The Zakat will be levied to put a stop to the spiraling prices of real estate and help find a solution to the shortage in accommodation in Saudi Arabia. Currently there is a shortage of 1.5 million housing units in the Kingdom.

Sources at the Department of Zakat and Taxation, who did not want to be identified, said a committee from the department has drafted new regulations about Zakat on empty lands and forwarded them to the Council of Ministers for ratifying.

The Council of Senior Scholars previously called for Zakat to be collected from land that is for sale, and said that anyone who refuses to pay should be punished according to Shariah.

The Shoura Council, on its part, outlined the rules for collecting Zakat from unused lands.

It said these lands should be within the developed area and should be surplus to the immediate needs of the owner and his family.