Zakat calculator
Enter the value of your assets on the day your zakat year is complete, together with today’s price of gold and silver. The calculator checks whether your wealth reaches the nisab and works out the 2.5% due.
Who has to pay zakat?
Zakat is due from every adult Muslim who owns, for one full lunar year (hawl), wealth at least equal to the nisab, after deducting debts that are due. The rate is 2.5% (one fortieth) of the zakatable wealth.
The nisab: gold or silver?
The nisab is the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. Because silver is much cheaper, the silver nisab is lower and makes zakat due on more people, which benefits the poor; many contemporary scholars prefer the gold nisab for wealth held in money. Choose the one followed by your local scholars or zakat institution.
What counts and what does not
- Counts: cash, bank balances, gold and silver, shares and funds held for growth or trade, business stock, money owed to you that you are confident of receiving.
- Does not count: your home, car, furniture, clothes and the tools of your work, as long as they are for personal use.
- Jewellery worn by women: the Hanafi school requires zakat on it; the majority of scholars do not, as long as it is worn in a normal way. Include it if you follow the Hanafi view.
An example
Someone owns 8,000 in savings and 1,500 in shares, and owes an instalment of 500 due now. Net wealth: 9,000. If 85 g of gold is worth 6,800, the nisab is reached and the zakat is 9,000 × 2.5% = 225.
When and to whom
Pay zakat when your lunar year is complete; many people choose Ramadan for its extra reward. It goes to the eight categories named in the Qur’an (9:60): the poor, the needy, those who collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing captives, those in debt, in the path of Allah and stranded travellers.
Zakat: frequently asked questions
Is zakat due on my salary?
Not on the salary itself, but on what you have saved from it once your savings reach the nisab and a lunar year has passed.
Do I pay zakat on my retirement or pension fund?
If you can access the money, many scholars count it at its current withdrawable value; if it is locked until retirement, many scholars say zakat is due only once you receive it.
Can I pay zakat to my family?
Not to those you are already obliged to support (parents, children, spouse), but you may pay it to other relatives in need, such as siblings, and it then counts as both zakat and maintaining family ties.
Is the calculator a fatwa?
No. It applies the common rules; for particular cases (business, property, shares, debts) ask a qualified scholar.