KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council Zakat Collection Centre (PPZ-MAIWP) has launched its 2023 Year End Zakat (YEZ) campaign in an effort to close the gap towards its RM1 billion zakat collection goal for the year. As stated by its Chief Executive Officer Abdul Hakim Amir Osman, the organization is currently RM312 million short of this target.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, PPZ-MAIWP had managed to collect RM688.7 million in zakat contributions as of last October. The YEZ campaign, an annual initiative, is designed to motivate zakat payers to fulfill their obligations by December 31, particularly for those seeking income tax deductions or rebates. He emphasized the increasing number of asnaf (eligible tithe recipients) in the Federal Territories and mentioned that MAIWP has raised its assistance to RM300, incurring an annual cost of about RM108 million.

During the YEZ campaign launch at Taman Metropolitan Kepong, Abdul Hakim announced that this year’s campaign includes the opportunity for zakat payers to win over 1,000 prizes, ranging from umrah packages to Thermomix and smartphones. To facilitate zakat payments, 10 PPZ-MAIWP counters will operate daily from 8 am to 4.45 pm, including public holidays, with extended hours until 9.00 pm on Fridays and in the last week of December.

He also mentioned the upcoming Hari Bersama Pembayar event, which will honor zakat payers. To ease the process of zakat payment, various platforms are available, including the zakat.com.my portal, the MyZakat application, internet banking, and official agents appointed by PPZ-MAIWP.