The Zakat revenue collected by the Zakat and Income Department of the Eastern Province for the last Hijri year ending on Nov. 3, 2013 reached SR4.08 billion, registering a 22 percent growth compared to the previous year.

“The Zakat department deposits the collected amount in the account of the Social Insurance Agency at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency so that the amount can be distributed among the needy people registered with the Social Insurance Agency,” said Assistant Director of the Eastern Province Zakat department Issa Al-Bu Hammoud.

He added that the tax collected by the department is deposited in the general revenue account of the state. The total revenue of the department last year was more than SR25 billion with a 6 percent increase compared to the previous year, he said.

The Eastern Province branch is one of the largest offices of the department in the Kingdom. It has achieved notable development in terms of organization, speedy collection and revenue growth, a local daily reported.




The new office building of the department is equipped with advanced facilities which enable the office to update the data on tax and zakat payers and speed up operations, he said.