Some governments take taxes and levies from the subjects; is it permissible to reclaim them through deception?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, there are people who hold a view that the government takes taxes and levies from some Muslims and sometimes eats their rights. The question is: Is it permissible for me to reclaim this money if, for example, I guarantee that no harm will come to me?

The Shaykh : Reclaiming?

The questioner : I mean through deceptive means, perhaps.

The Shaykh : How do you mean reclaiming?

The questioner : Perhaps through deception.

The Shaykh : No, no, I do not understand the reclaiming you mean. Can you give an example?

The questioner : Perhaps. For example, there are employees in the government in a government institution who say, "I, for example, record extra working hours and take payment for them without doing the work, because the government wrongs me, or the authority manager or the president wrongs me." So what do we answer this person in this regard? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : The answer is with a sound hadith traced to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and another one stopping at 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), which is also narrated as traced to the Prophet. As for the sound hadith traced to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is his saying: Although its indication is explicit, it is necessary to draw attention to something that may be hidden from some people, or may be apparent to some, but Satan takes the opportunity of reclaiming what he claims as his right from his wrongdoer—whether it is a government, a people, or an individual—to exploit him and whisper to him that he is wronged by one hundred dinars, while the other is not wronged by one hundred dinars, but perhaps by ninety-nine. No, an extra dinar; this is an approximate example, of course. So when a claimant claims that so-and-so wronged him, and there is no witness that he wronged him, and no witness that he wronged him by the amount he claims, he opens a door for himself to eat the wealth of people by falsehood under the claim of reclaiming a suppressed right. Therefore, from the perspective of blocking the means to harm, which is a door of the complete and excellent Shari'ah: As for the hadith stopping at a Companion, it is from the masterpieces of the speech of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), where he advised his companions by saying, "Do not be followers who say, 'If people do good, we do good, and if they do evil, we do evil.' But rather, set your hearts to do good if they do good, and not to wrong if they do evil, and not to wrong if they do evil." Is there another question?