Zakat Calculator

What this Zakat calculator does

Zakat is an obligation with a definite arithmetic to it: a threshold below which nothing is due, a rate of two and a half percent above it, and a defined set of wealth it applies to. What makes it awkward in practice is not the sum but the gathering, since the figures sit across bank accounts, jewellery, business stock and money lent to people.

This calculator collects those in one place. You enter your cash, receivables, investments, gold, silver and stock, then the liabilities you are deducting. It totals your net zakatable wealth, compares it against the nisab threshold, and tells you the amount due.

It is a calculating aid rather than a religious ruling. Several of the inputs involve judgements on which qualified scholars hold different positions, and this page sets those out plainly so you can apply the one you follow rather than accepting somebody else's silently. Where your situation is genuinely uncertain, a scholar is the right authority and not a web page.

Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored. The fields are labelled in PKR, but the arithmetic is currency blind and works with any.

How to use it

1. Nisab. Choose gold, silver or a custom figure. This is a real decision and there is a section on it below.
2. Rate per tola. The current market rate for whichever metal your nisab choice uses. Read this before you fill it in, because the field does not say which metal it wants.
3. Cash. Bank balances, cash in hand, money you have lent out and expect back, cash set aside for a future purpose, and investments.
4. Liabilities. Loans taken, unpaid wages and bills payable. The deductible amount is narrower than it looks.
5. Valuables and tradable goods. Gold, silver and the value of business stock held for sale.

Press Calculate. Press Reset to clear the form.

Enter values, not weights. The gold and silver fields want the market value of what you hold, so weigh your holdings and multiply by the current rate first. Our scrap gold calculator converts weight and karat into a value if that helps.

Gold or silver: which threshold to use

Nisab is the minimum wealth at which Zakat becomes due, and it was set in terms of two metals: 87.48 grams of gold, which is 7.5 tolas, or 612.36 grams of silver, which is 52.5 tolas. Those weights are fixed. What changes daily is what they are worth in money.

Because gold and silver prices have diverged enormously since those weights were set, the two thresholds are now very far apart. At rough market rates the gold nisab works out around twelve times the silver nisab, which means the choice decides whether many people owe Zakat at all.

Someone with net wealth of 500,000 owes nothing on the gold standard and 12,500 on the silver standard. Same person, same year.

The scholarly positions. The Hanafi school generally applies the silver nisab where a person holds a mixture of assets. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools generally use the gold nisab as the standard. Both positions are held by serious scholarship and neither is a modern invention.

Among contemporary institutions, many advise the silver standard on the reasoning that the lower threshold brings more people into the obligation and therefore delivers more to those entitled to receive it. Islamic Relief states that reasoning explicitly. Others prefer gold on the argument that it better reflects the purchasing power the threshold originally represented.

Two practical notes. Where a person holds only gold, the gold nisab is the natural measure. Where wealth is mixed across cash, savings, business assets and metals, the silver nisab is the more commonly recommended trigger.

And whichever you choose, be consistent from year to year. Switching between standards according to which produces the smaller obligation is not a defensible way to approach it.

One further point worth knowing: a minority of contemporary bodies use slightly different weights, 85 grams for gold and 595 grams for silver, based on a different estimate of the classical dinar and dirham. The difference is around three percent and it will not usually change whether you are above or below the line.

The rate per tola field, and which metal it means

There is one field for the metal price and it serves both standards, which means the number it wants depends on the dropdown above it.

If you selected gold nisab, enter the gold rate per tola. The tool multiplies it by 7.5.

If you selected silver nisab, enter the silver rate per tola. The tool multiplies it by 52.5.

The label does not say this, and getting it the wrong way round produces a badly wrong threshold rather than an error message. If you are on the silver standard and enter the gold rate, the tool multiplies a gold price by 52.5 and produces a nisab around eighty nine times too high. Almost nobody would clear it, and the result would report that no Zakat is due when it very likely is.

Given what this calculation is for, that is worth being careful about. Check which standard you selected, then enter the matching metal's rate, and sanity check the answer: a silver nisab that comes out in the millions is wrong.

Where to get the rate: local bullion dealers and jewellers publish daily tola rates in markets that use them, and international prices are quoted per troy ounce, which you can convert. The rate you want is the one on your Zakat due date rather than an average or a figure from last year.

We are relabelling the field to name the metal explicitly.

If you hold both gold and silver

Worth flagging clearly, because it affects the total.

As the tool currently works, selecting the gold nisab counts your gold holdings and leaves silver out of the total. Selecting the silver nisab counts silver and leaves gold out. The input for the other metal is hidden.

That is not how the obligation works. Which standard you use to set the threshold is a separate question from which assets are zakatable. Gold and silver are both zakatable regardless of which nisab standard you apply to decide whether you have crossed the line.

So somebody holding 400,000 in cash, 800,000 in gold and 150,000 in silver would see:

The workaround until this is fixed: select custom nisab, which reveals both the gold and silver fields and counts both. Then work out your threshold by hand, either 7.5 times the gold rate per tola or 52.5 times the silver rate, and enter that figure in the custom nisab box.

It takes one extra multiplication and it gives the correct total. This is on our list to correct properly.

The formula

Three steps.

Net zakatable wealth = total zakatable assets − deductible liabilities

Nisab threshold = metal rate per tola × 7.5 for gold, or × 52.5 for silver

Then, if net wealth is at or above the threshold:

Zakat due = net zakatable wealth × 2.5%

And if it is below, nothing is due for that year.

The 2.5 percent, or one fortieth, applies to the whole of your net zakatable wealth once you are above the threshold, not just to the excess above it. That catches people out. Being 10,000 over a nisab of 189,000 does not mean paying 250; it means paying 2.5 percent of the full 199,000.

Note also what does not appear here. Your home, your everyday clothing, your car, tools of your trade and household furniture are not zakatable, because Zakat applies to accumulated wealth rather than to things in personal use. The calculator has no field for them, correctly.

A worked example

Someone using the silver standard, with silver at 3,600 per tola.

Threshold: 3,600 × 52.5 = 189,000

Their position:

1,550,000 is comfortably above the 189,000 threshold, so Zakat is due.

1,550,000 × 0.025 = 38,750

Note that this example counts both the gold and the silver, which as described above requires using the custom nisab option in the tool as it currently stands.

Note also the gold jewellery is included. Whether personal jewellery in regular use is zakatable is itself a point of difference between the schools, and the FAQ covers it.

Which debts can be deducted

This is the input most likely to produce a wrong answer, because the liabilities fields will accept any figure and a large loan balance can wipe out the obligation entirely.

The principle contemporary scholars work from is that Zakat applies to wealth you actually possess and control. Money you owe right now is already committed to somebody else's claim, so it reduces what you truly hold. Money you will owe over the next twenty years does not, because it will be paid out of future income rather than out of today's savings.

So the mainstream contemporary position runs roughly like this.

Deductible: arrears and overdue payments, bills currently due, wages owed, and debts that must be fully repaid within the next twelve lunar months.

Not deductible in full: the outstanding balance of a long term loan. On a mortgage, a car finance agreement or a student loan running over many years, the whole balance is not a present claim on your wealth.

Where scholars permit an allowance on long term debt, it is typically up to twelve lunar months of upcoming instalments, and specifically the capital portion, since any interest element cannot be deducted. The National Zakat Foundation adds a further caution worth repeating: that allowance should really only be taken if paying Zakat without it would genuinely impair your ability to make those repayments. If it would not, the more careful position is to deduct less or nothing.

The scale of the difference is large. Somebody with 500,000 of net assets and a 3,000,000 mortgage balance would show negative wealth and owe nothing if the full balance is deducted. Deducting twelve months of capital repayments instead, perhaps 200,000, leaves 300,000 and a Zakat obligation of 7,500.

The Loans taken field in this calculator carries no guidance, so the figure you enter is entirely your judgement. Enter the deductible portion rather than the full outstanding balance, and if you are unsure which applies to your situation, that is exactly the sort of question a scholar should answer rather than a form.

The same principle runs the other way on money owed to you. Loans you have made and expect to recover are part of your wealth and are zakatable, which is why the tool has a field for them. Debts you consider unlikely to be repaid are treated differently, and scholarly opinion varies on when they become due.

The lunar year, and the rate

Zakat is not calculated on a random date. It becomes due once a full hawl, an Islamic lunar year of roughly 354 days, has passed since your wealth first reached the nisab.

So the process is: note the date your wealth first crossed the threshold, and that anniversary in the Hijri calendar becomes your Zakat date each year. On that date you value everything you hold and calculate.

The schools differ slightly on what must happen in between. The broad position is that your wealth should be at or above nisab at the start and end of the year, with dips below during the year not necessarily breaking it. A stricter reading requires it to remain above throughout. If your wealth hovers near the threshold, this is worth asking about rather than assuming.

The rate of 2.5 percent is calibrated to that lunar year. Which raises a practical question for anyone who finds it easier to calculate on a fixed Gregorian date instead: a solar year is about eleven days longer, so using one means Zakat comes round slightly less often over a lifetime.

The conventional adjustment is to apply 2.577 percent on a solar year rather than 2.5 percent, which is 2.5 multiplied by 365 over 354. On 500,000 that is 12,888 rather than 12,500, a difference of about 388.

This calculator applies 2.5 percent, so if you calculate on a Gregorian anniversary you may wish to make that adjustment yourself.

One last note on timing. Many people choose Ramadan as their Zakat date, and there is a well established preference for giving in that month. If you do, the point is to make Ramadan your consistent annual date rather than to calculate twice.

Questions people ask

What is the Zakat rate?

Two and a half percent of net zakatable wealth, once you are at or above the nisab and a full lunar year has passed. It applies to the whole amount, not only to the excess above the threshold.

Should I use the gold or silver nisab?

The Hanafi school generally uses silver for mixed wealth; the other three schools generally use gold. Many contemporary institutions recommend silver because the lower threshold means more reaches those entitled to receive. Follow the position you hold to, and stay consistent year to year.

Is jewellery I wear zakatable?

This is a genuine point of difference. The Hanafi position is that gold and silver jewellery is zakatable whether worn or not. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali positions generally exempt jewellery in customary personal use. Gold and silver held as investment or simply stored is zakatable under all four. Many scholars advise including worn jewellery to be safe.

I own gold and silver but can only enter one. Why?

A limitation in the tool as it stands. Select custom nisab, which shows both fields, and enter your threshold manually. See the section above.

Can I deduct my mortgage?

Not the full balance. Scholars generally permit deducting arrears and, where the allowance is taken, up to twelve lunar months of upcoming capital repayments. The whole outstanding balance is not a present claim on your wealth. See the section on debts.

Is my house zakatable?

Not your home, nor your car, clothing, furniture or the tools of your trade. Zakat applies to accumulated wealth rather than to things in personal use. Property held as an investment for resale is a different matter.

My wealth is below nisab. Do I owe anything?

No Zakat is due for that year. Voluntary charity, sadaqah, is always open and carries no threshold.

Can I calculate on a normal calendar year?

Many people do. The conventional adjustment is to use 2.577 percent rather than 2.5 percent, since a solar year is about eleven days longer than a lunar one. This tool applies 2.5 percent.

Does it work outside Pakistan?

Yes. The fields say PKR but the arithmetic is currency blind. Enter values in your own currency and the rate per tola in the same one. If your market quotes gold per gram rather than per tola, divide the nisab weights by 11.664 to convert, or use the custom nisab option.

References

A note on sourcing. The nisab weights, the rate, the hawl and the categories of zakatable wealth are matters of established fiqh, and the sources below are contemporary institutions and scholars who set out the classical positions and the points on which the schools differ. Where this page describes a difference of opinion it does so without endorsing one, because that is not a decision a calculator or its documentation should make for anybody. For a question about your own circumstances, a qualified scholar is the appropriate authority.

1. Islamic Relief, Nisab Value: What is Nisab? https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/giving/islamic-giving/zakat/nisab/
2. National Zakat Foundation, Debts and Liabilities in the Context of Paying Zakat. https://nzf.org.uk/knowledge/payment-of-zakat-deductible-liabilities/
3. National Zakat Foundation, Which Debts Can Be Deducted from My Zakat Calculation? https://nzf.org.uk/knowledge/which-debts-can-be-deducted-from-my-zakat-calculation/
4. Zakat Foundation of America, Can Home Mortgages Be Deducted from Zakat as Debt? https://www.zakat.org/can-home-mortgages-be-deducted-from-zakat-as-debt
5. Bradford, J., Deducting Debt from Your Zakat Calculation: What Counts and What Doesn't. https://joebradford.net/deducting-debt-from-your-zakat-calculation-what-counts-and-what-doesnt/