Dear Hadi,
1st question:
Is it ok for people to work jobs and not inform the relevant country's tax office about their financial gain, especially if this person also receives early retirement money or welfare checks every month? Basically, is it halal or haram to earn money in the country one lives in and not inform that country's tax office?
2nd question:
Is it halal or haram for a man and a woman to be married in Islam, but unmarried under Danish law, yet live together while not informing their housing association about their living situation and not inform the government too?
Dear Reader,
As you may know from previous answers, we do not render fatwas but we will give you our sincere advice on the questions you asked.
With regard to your first question, we believe, and God knows best, that from an Islamic perspective, the short answer is no, it is not okay to conceal your earnings from the government of the country in which you are living and working.
Islam places enormous emphasis on honesty in financial dealings, fulfilling contracts, and not taking wealth through deception. The Quran says, “O you who believe, fulfill your covenants…” (Quran 5:1) and “Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly…” (Quran 4:29). These are broad principles, but they apply very directly here.
When a Muslim lives in a country, works there, uses its roads, hospitals, courts, schools, public infrastructure, and also signs forms, accepts benefits, or enters employment under that country’s laws, those obligations are not Islamically meaningless. They become part of the trusts and agreements one has entered into.
So if someone deliberately hides income from tax authorities while continuing to receive welfare, disability, retirement support, housing assistance, or other public benefits calculated on the basis of declared income, this is not simply “being smart with money.” In Islamic terms, it combines several prohibited things: deception, breach of trust, false representation, and potentially consuming wealth one is no longer entitled to.
That doesn’t leave much room for quietly taking public money while intentionally concealing information that would affect eligibility.
Could a person disagree with a tax system? Certainly. Could they use lawful deductions, accountants, exemptions, or legal structures to reduce taxes? Of course. That is not deception; that is using lawful means within the rules.
But to earn money off the books while intentionally withholding that information from authorities, especially while collecting public benefits based on incomplete or false information, would, in our opinion violate, Islamic ethics.
With regard to your second question, while your marriage may be valid from an Islamic perspective (but see below for more on this point), the concealment you describe is another matter.
If a man and woman have fulfilled the conditions of a valid nikah (offer and acceptance, witnesses, consent, and the other required conditions), then they may be husband and wife in the sight of Allah, even if the state has not yet recognized that marriage. That being said, we have answered previous questions about this and our position is that it is very important for the rights of the spouses, particularly the rights and protection of the wife, for the marriage to be certified and recognized civilly under the laws of the locale in which the marriage occurred. We are not familiar with Danish law, but we can tell you that many of the major Islamic organizations in North America will not issue an Islamic marriage license to couples if they have not also secured a civil marriage license.
Regardless of how you may feel about that issue, we do not believe that your situation makes it permissible to conceal the living arrangement from authorities, landlords, housing associations, or government agencies if disclosure is legally required.
If someone signs a legal housing contract that requires accurate disclosure of occupants, household composition, marital status where relevant, or income and benefit arrangements, then knowingly hiding a spouse in order to avoid higher rent, preserve benefits, secure housing eligibility, or avoid administrative consequences would not be permissible.
The issue is not whether the marriage is valid. The issue is whether deception is being used for financial or legal advantage.
The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Render the trust to the one who entrusted you…” (Sunan Abi Dawud).
So the Islamic question is not: “Are we married enough to live together?” If the nikah is valid, the answer may be yes.
The real question is: “Are we fulfilling the trusts and disclosures we agreed to when dealing with other people’s rights, contracts, public resources, and legal obligations?”
If the answer is no - if information is being intentionally concealed from a housing association or government in order to obtain a benefit, avoid a cost, or bypass rules - then from an Islamic perspective, we don't believe that would be permissible.
A valid marriage does not make dishonesty permissible. It simply changes the nature of the relationship between the spouses; it does not cancel their obligations toward everyone else.
In peace.