Haraç

{{short description|Land tax levied on non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire}}

{{Expand Turkish|Haraç|date=November 2014}}

{{Taxation in the Ottoman Empire sidebar}}

Haraç ({{langx|hy|խարջ|kharj}}, {{langx|mk|арач|arač}}, {{langx|el|χαράτσι|charatsi}}, {{lang-sh-Cyrl-Latn|харач|harač}}) was a land tax levied on non-Muslim subjects in the Ottoman Empire.

Haraç was developed from an earlier form of land taxation, kharaj (harac), and was, in principle, only payable by non-Muslims; it was seen as a counterpart to zakat paid by Muslims.Hunter, Malik and Senturk, p. 77 The haraç system later merged into the cizye taxation system. While the taxes collected from non Muslims were higher than those collected from Muslims, the rights and opportunities provided to non Muslims were much more limited. It often incentivised people to convert to Islam.

Haraç collection was reformed by a firman of 1834, which abolished the old levying system, and required that haraç be raised by a commission composed of the kadı and the ayans, or municipal chiefs of rayas in each district. The firman made several other changes to taxation as part of the wider Tanzimat reform movement within the Ottoman Empire.