Riyadh – Mubasher: The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZTA) announced that individuals can now pay zakat "optionally" through the "Zakaty" smartphone app or the service's website ( zakaty.gov.sa ). This can be done using secure and reliable payment methods via digital payment channels, ensuring speed and flexibility in service delivery.

The authority's official spokesperson, Hamoud Al-Harbi, explained in a statement that the availability of the "Zakaty" service for individuals stems from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority's commitment to providing comprehensive zakat services. The service provides individuals with the opportunity to pay their zakat in a smooth and convenient manner, directly reaching those entitled to it.

Al-Harbi emphasized that all individual zakat amounts received through the service benefit zakat beneficiaries registered with the Social Security and Empowerment Agency at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. He explained that the service provides the ability to select the eligible category of zakat beneficiaries, most notably families most in need of housing, families of divorced women, families of prisoners, and other groups.

Al-Harbi added that the service allows individuals to calculate the zakat due on various types of assets, including cash, gold and silver, Saudi and foreign stocks, investment funds, real estate, and trade offerings. He noted that the service also offers the ability to calculate zakat on gold based on its purity, as the "Zakaty" service is linked instantly to global gold and silver prices. The service also provides the ability to obtain daily stock and investment fund prices at the market closing price.

The Authority's spokesperson noted that the "Zakaty" service is witnessing significant and growing engagement from individuals, with the total amounts benefiting zakat beneficiaries of all categories exceeding 760 million riyals since the service's launch eight years ago.