Abstract
A difficult problem arises in situations where tax is used for religious reasons. There is a potential for a clash between religious tax and WTO rules. If trade rules are held as strictly as they are as applied currently, it could lead to a devastating effect. Such is the case with the Saudi Arabian tax system, which is based on religion. This religious tax has some discriminatory elements favoring Moslems. International tax law has allowed this result, being bilateral and subject to negotiation, bargaining, and diplomacy, and has not restrained religion-based discrimination. International trade law, on the other hand, if applied to this kind of religious discrimination, may (1) apply and make illegal this discrimination, and (2) be subject to stronger procedural arrangements.