Q: My families yearly zakah is about $200 000, I lose about 20-40% in transaction costs when giving through organizations. We do not wish to pay for zakah ‘collectors’ hotel stays, rental car fees, them sending 3 paid employees to pick up the check because they have internal trust issues and give us free lunches and gifts from them for the zakah and sadaqah money we give them. My son and daughter want to know, does one have to pay zakah asap when due? Can our family form an NGO like situation and donate to it, take tax benefits and distribute it towards the poor and give the poor their full due? Sayingnotozakahbussines

A: One can pay their zakah over a period of time, more so if one cannot find a poor person immediately. To delay unnecessarily is to deprive the poor of their rights.

Yes, one can take tax benefits for their contributions. The tax benefit is not related to zakah, these two are separate transactions.

One can form an organization and give their personal zakah to the newly created organization to distribute to the poor as per rules of religion while also following the law of the land. If this what you choose to do, you can keep your zakah money aside, form your organization, deposit the money into the organization and then distribute it as soon as possible.

Allah Certainly Knows Best.