The amounts we pay the government in exchange for services such as water and others: is it permissible to use deception to reduce them?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Here is Abu Sa'id, may Allah help you.

The questioner: My question, my Shaykh, concerns the amounts we pay the government for services like water, electricity, or others, or taxes, my Shaykh. A person has a sum of money arranged for him; let us say fifty dinars. The law in the law of this state is that he must pay the fifty dinars because this man has connections in this department, my Shaykh. The officials can, by means of the law, have him pay it, or by another law, have him pay an amount less than this amount, knowing that everyone pays this customary amount of fifty dinars. This is the first part, my Shaykh, of the question, meaning: is this man sinful for his action of paying less?

The Shaykh: If I understood what you are saying, he is not sinful, but can I understand what you are saying? The matter needs explanation. Can you clarify for us what the second law is by which some employees, this one who owes fifty dinars, can pay it, for example, forty or thirty? What is the law?

The questioner: My Shaykh, let us say that the government allows some people whose financial situation does not allow them to pay this amount, whose financial circumstances are such, a law that allows them to pay less than this amount. But, my Shaykh, as a government or as executors of such laws, they do not implement it for anyone. That is, it is possible, my Shaykh, that a rich person comes with money and they implement this law on him, and a poor person comes, but because he has no connections in this department, they do not implement this law on him. That is, the law is based on the financial situation, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes, this second law you spoke about, which may be applied and imposed on the rich rather than the poor, who applied it to the poor?

The questioner: My Shaykh, as is customary in our institution, no one applies it to the poor because no one knows this poor person.

The Shaykh: Never mind, we want to reach the point you asked about.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Is the one obligated to pay the tax the one who applied this second system, or the responsible employee, such that if he were asked why you applied this law, he would say I held to the system?

The questioner: No, of course, it is not the one obligated, my Shaykh. The one obligated had connections with the responsible person and asked him, meaning, to try to lower some of this amount. So he told him that there is another law by which I can, through connections, lower this amount for you.

The Shaykh: Yes, he bears no responsibility, the one who paid the tax less based on the employee's action, based on the employee's action.

The questioner: The second part, my Shaykh, of the question: if there is no law that the responsible person, if he has no other law, forgives this man?

The Shaykh: And this is the crux of the first question.

The questioner: There is no law, and he did it; he did not take from the man, meaning he did not take anything from him, but he helped him for Allah and lowered him from the amount, my Shaykh. But he did not take anything from him; he paid it for Allah, the man, but there is no [law] that lowers this amount for him.

The Shaykh: What did he do for Allah?

The questioner: That he lowered the amount. He was supposed to pay fifty dinars; he helped him and made him pay twenty, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes, and did he put the thirty in his pocket?

The questioner : No, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: It would be for Allah.

The questioner: My Shaykh, he was able to do this.

The Shaykh: I know, my brother Abu Sa'id, I know what you are talking about, but I want to correct the word "for Allah."

The questioner: My Shaykh, it is permissible, I made a mistake...

The Shaykh: Yes, let us see, let us understand well. Okay, this action is not permissible, of course, because he is not obligated to do it. And I said once in some gatherings that it is not permissible for us; we know for certain, we said what is its summary? We know for certain that some of these taxes are necessary, and others are not permissible to impose on the nation or the Muslim people. But at the same time, I said and I still say: it is not permissible for us to open the door for every individual of the Muslims obligated to strike these taxes, to pay these taxes, so that everyone says no, the tax, I do not see it as legitimate, and the next one says the tax, I do not see it as legitimate, and so on. And we will have taught the nation and the Muslim people that everyone should double up and twist around these systems and these laws under the claim of what? Under the claim that they are unjust laws. We believe that these laws, unfortunately, are taken from the disbelievers, but not everything that comes to us from the disbelievers is contrary to the Shari'ah. This is what remains to distinguish between what is legitimate and what is not legitimate. It is not every individual of the people, otherwise the matter would become chaos and we would have passed our nation through the manipulation of rulings, and systems will come, if Allah wills, soon or far off, this is with the knowledge of Allah, meaning, that a group of scholars and just people from the Muslims will establish and impose them. And without a doubt, there will be in these rulings what the minds of the general masses of people do not grasp, so they will do on that day what Allah does, everyone saying it is not reasonable, this is injustice, and so on. Therefore, if the one who established the system established exceptions and these exceptions were applied and placed in their places, there is no blame on it.
But as you asked lastly, that the person himself acts personally to free himself from paying this money, this is not permissible because it is in the category of deception or opening a great door of deception on people, and teaching them to escape from responsibilities, and others.