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Your Zakat in Trusted Hands

Current Nisab value as of – March 22, 2023

Silver (612.36 grams)
Price/g: $1.01
Nisab: $618.48		 Gold (87.48 grams)
Price/g: $86.86
Nisab: $7,598.51

Assets

Enter all assets that have been in your possession over a lunar year into the Zakat calculator. This will then give you the total amount of Zakat owed, if it is more than Nisab.

Gold and Silver

Enter the dollar value only.

Gold and silver that you own in any form is subject to Zakat according to its weight value. Gold and silver can be valued by its weight and resale value by a jeweler or you can multiply the number of grams (of gold or silver) that you own by the current market value.

This includes any jewelry, coins, ornaments, etc. made of gold or silver. There is a difference of scholarly opinion regarding whether Zakat is due on jewelry kept for personal use vs. that which is kept as an investment or to sell, however it is safer to pay Zakat on all gold or silver jewelry.

For personal use items made from a mixture of metals, these are only subject to Zakat if 50% or more of the metal is gold or silver, although some scholars hold that the proportion of gold or silver in any owned asset is subject to Zakat.

Precious gems and other metals are not subject to Zakat.

Money

All cash you own is subject to Zakat, whether in your bank accounts, in another currency or stored with another person.

Cash can be easily understood as liquid wealth. It can be in the form of real cash bills, money available in the bank, or cryptocurrency.

Note on interest earned on liquid wealth: do not include this amount here, it should be donated as regular Sadaqa or charity.
Zakat is payable on money owed to you that you are confident will be returned back to you, such as personal loans to friends and family. This does not include outstanding wages, unpaid dowry, inheritance that is not in your possession or assets held in trust.
Since retirement plans and funds are owned assets or cash, they are subject to Zakat depending on the nature of the fund.

Accessible: If you have access to withdraw funds, then first calculate the total fund value minus the Penalties and Taxes you will pay for early withdrawal, then add this value to your Zakatable assets.

Long Term: If it is a long term fund and you do not have access or control to withdraw, then you may treat it as a passive investment and only pay Zakat upon maturity when you have access to your investment. Zakat will be payable on the entire value of the fund less any fees or taxes.
Long Term: For halal-compliant shares that are purchased for long-term investment to generate dividends, without intention to resell, then only the dividend income is added to your Zakatable assets.

Short Term: If halal-compliant shares are purchased for capital appreciation with the intention to resell, in the case of day trading or short term trading, then the total of their market value is added to your Zakatable assets.

If you are cashing out halal-compliant shares, the amount remaining after taxes and fees, is added to your Zakatable assets.
For property other than your home, which is purchased for long-term investment without intention to resell, then Zakat is due on saved rental income only.

In the case that it is a rental property then you only have to pay Zakat on the rental income minus the expenses related to the rental income.

For property with the prime motivation of capital appreciation and with the intention to resell in this Zakat year, then include the total market value of the property.

Your personal property and fixed assets are not subject to Zakat.

Business Assets

According to the percentage that you own of the business, add the total cash the business has to your Zakatable assets.

For business assets that were sold, the income generated from the sale is added to your Zakatable assets.
According to the percentage that you own of the business, add the following to your Zakatable assets:

  • Total value of inventory (wholesale price of all assets that were purchased for resale)

  • Total value of finished goods
According to the percentage that you own of the business, add the total value of work in progress and cost of raw materials to your Zakatable assets.
According to the percentage that you own of the business, add the total value of accounts receivables that will be collected, to your Zakatable assets.

Immediate Liabilities

You may deduct your personal and living expenses for the upcoming month from your Zakatable assets, including outstanding or overdue living expenses, such as rent payments, utility bills, food, and other bills.
You may deduct business expenses from your Zakatable assets, including rent, bills, salaries, even if they are outstanding or overdue.

You may also deduct the amount of outstanding short term commercial loans that are due in less than 1 lunar year and you actively intend to pay back. For long term business debt, deduct only the immediate month’s principal (non-interest) portion.

For goods purchased on credit, deduct the total value of the goods.
You may deduct any short term debts that you owe and intend to pay immediately from your Zakatable assets.

For long-term debt that you are actively paying, such as mortgages or student loans, the preferred scholarly opinion is that you should only deduct the immediate month’s principal (non-interest) portion.*

Short term is considered anything less than one lunar year, and long term is considered more than one lunar year.

If payments are not being paid on the long-term debt, then it should not be deducted from your Zakatable assets.

* There is a difference of opinion that allows the non-interest or principal portion of the upcoming lunar year’s worth of payments to be deducted for Zakat calculation purposes. Please refer to your local scholars.
This field will calculate the total of your net Zakatable assets:

$Total of Assets

– $Total of Liabilities

= $Net Assets

Your Zakat amount is 2.5% of your Net Assets.

Please note: this field will only show a value if the total value of the Asset fields are higher than the Nisab threshold. If it is less than Nisab, then it will remain at 0.
Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth that acts as a threshold to determine whether Zakat is obligatory on you. You only owe Zakat if your net assets value is more than Nisab.

Please note: This field lists a recent calculation of Nisab according to the silver standard. This is the preferred standard in the Hanafi school to allow for more people to pay Zakat and increase the amount of charity distributed.

Other schools of thought use the gold standard to calculate Nisab. This can be used in today’s age where the cost of living is high and the value of silver has significantly decreased. If you prefer to use the gold standard, please see the top of the page for the gold Nisab threshold.
Your total Zakat due is 2.5% of your Net Assets (Net Assets multiplied by 0.025).

Once you donate your Zakat, Islamic Relief Canada allocates your contribution to our Zakat-eligible projects on the ground. Your Zakat funds some of our most crucial work with people and communities living in disaster, poverty and conflict zones.

As one body of believers, your Zakat matters! And its effect is felt all around the world.

Using the Zakat calculator

Enter all assets that have been in your possession over a lunar year into the Zakat calculator. This will then give you the total amount of Zakat owed.

 

Zakat calculator: Simplifying your Zakat calculation

Calculating your Zakat isn’t as difficult as you may think. We find that breaking your assets down into different categories makes the Zakat calculation process really simple.

We have broken down the calculation process into Zakatable assets (gold, silver, cash, savings, business assets etc.) and Deductible liabilities (money you owe, other outgoings due) so you can calculate the Zakat you owe easily.

The amount of Zakat you need to pay will be determined once you have calculated the value of your net assets. You then need to see whether your net assets are equal to, or exceed, the Nisab threshold.

 

Zakat Scholar: Providing specialist advice

We understand that calculating your Zakat can be daunting, and even confusing. Therefore, we work with a dedicated Zakat scholar during Ramadan to provide a specialized advice service. This service allows you to speak directly to a learned scholar via email or telephone.

Please note: the Zakat scholar is available during business hours.

 

Ramadan Zakat Helpline

Contact us at +1 855-377-4673 to get all your questions answered and help with calculating your Zakat. Our Zakat scholar will do their best to contact you within 48 hours to help with your inquiry.

Helpline hours:

  1. 8am-12am on weekdays
  2. 11am-8pm on weekends
  3. Last 10 nights – 24 hrs

 

What is Nisab?

The nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before they become eligible to pay Zakat. This amount is often referred to as the nisab threshold.

Gold and silver are the two values used to calculate the nisab threshold. Therefore the nisab is the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver.

 

Visit our Zakat page for an extensive list of Zakat FAQs.

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