This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Fawad was already reeling from the deadly earthquake that struck western Afghanistan in October and severely damaged his home and crops.
But the Taliban dealt the small-scale farmer from the western Herat Province another crippling financial blow.
Fawad, who grows lentils and wheat, was recently forced to pay “ushr,” an Islamic tax on harvests.
“We are overwhelmed by misery,” Fawad, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “But we are forced to pay taxes to the Taliban.”
Since seizing power in 2021, the unrecognized and cash-strapped Taliban government has levied the harvest tax in a bid to boost revenue. While tax collection was initially sporadic and uneven across the country, it has been expanded nationwide.
But the tax have angered many farmers, who say the militant group has not taken into consideration the losses they have incurred.
Afghanistan has been the scene of a series of deadly natural disasters in recent years, including earthquakes, floods, and a severe drought, that have exacerbated the devastating humanitarian crisis in the country, the world’s largest.
Taliban Taxes
The Taliban has imposed a 10 percent tax on harvests from irrigated land and a 5 percent levy on rainfed crops. It has described the payments as an obligation under Islamic law.
The Taliban has relied heavily on aggressive taxation to raise revenue. The militants have levied taxes on everything from moving goods on highways to hanging a sign in front of a shop.
But the Taliban government’s lack of transparency and the loss of essential services has led to complaints about what Afghans are getting in return.
The previous Western-backed Afghan government did not impose Islamic taxes, including “zakat,” a 2.5 percent levy on the estimated value of a person’s possessions that the Taliban has also collected.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam that are considered obligations for all Muslims.
During its 19-year insurgency, the Taliban collected ushr and zakat from Afghans living under its rule, including farmers who cultivated opium. Tax collection was a major source of revenue for the militants.
‘I Have Nothing’
Awalmir is another Afghan farmer who is critical of the Taliban’s aggressive tax collection.
Awalmir, who owns a farm outside of Kabul, says he was forced to give the Taliban around 45 kilograms of wheat from his 450-kilogram harvest this year.
“They made me pay it despite all the losses I had incurred because of torrential spring rains” that triggered deadly flash floods in parts of Afghanistan, he told Radio Azadi.
Ali Reza, a farmer in the northern Sar-e Pul Province, says the Taliban is levying high taxes on impoverished Afghans without providing any basic services to citizens in return.
“We want the Taliban government to fix our roads, build health-care clinics, and rebuild schools,” he told Radio Azadi.
Qasim, a subsistence farmer in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, said floods in the spring destroyed some of his crops and he will be unable to pay ushr.
“I have nothing to give them,” he said.
The Taliban’s Agriculture Ministry did not respond to Radio Azadi’s requests for comment.
Most Islamic countries do not impose compulsory Islamic taxes on their citizens. In some countries, citizens can donate zakat, which is meant for the poor and needy.
Critics of governments’ collection of zakat include Islamic scholars and aid workers who say that the practice has failed to alleviate poverty in the Muslim world. They argue that the funds are often wasted and mismanaged.
One Afghan cleric, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said the Taliban “is not even authorized” to collect Islamic taxes.
Under Islam, he said, Muslims are encouraged to make donations to the poor in their communities. Governments, he said, have no authority to impose and collect Islamic taxes.
