How to Calculate Zakat on Cash, Gold and Savings

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, and for most households the sum itself is simple once the pieces are in place. The part that takes care is deciding what to count, what to take off and which threshold to measure against. This guide walks through those decisions in order, with a worked example at the end.

It covers the basics that zakat bodies and charities broadly agree on, and it points out where scholars hold different views. It is not a ruling. For your own circumstances, speak to a scholar you trust.

The three ideas behind the calculation

The rate: 2.5%

Zakat on money, gold, silver and trade goods is 2.5% of your net zakatable wealth. That is one fortieth, so a quick mental check is to divide the total by 40: 40,000 gives 1,000.

The nisab: the minimum amount

Zakat is only due if your wealth reaches a minimum called the nisab. It is defined by weight of precious metal, not by a sum of money. The figures most often quoted are 87.48 g of gold or 612.36 g of silver, which is the same as 7.5 tola and 52.5 tola. Some bodies use a rounded version, 85 g of gold or 595 g of silver, which the National Zakat Foundation describes as another opinion. Indonesia's national zakat agency, BAZNAS, for example, works with 85 g of gold.

Because the nisab is a weight, its value in your currency moves with metal prices every day. A nisab you looked up last Ramadan may be well out of date now.

The hawl: one lunar year

Zakat falls due when you have held wealth at or above the nisab for one full lunar year, known as the hawl. A lunar year is about 354 days, roughly 11 days shorter than the calendar year, so your zakat date drifts earlier each year on a Gregorian calendar. According to Islamic Relief, a common approach is that zakat is owed on what remains at the end of the year, as long as your wealth was over the nisab at both the start and the end, whatever it did in between.

Silver or gold: which nisab?

This choice can decide whether you pay zakat at all. Silver is far cheaper per gram than gold, so the silver nisab is a much smaller amount of money, and more people pass it.

Many scholars recommend the silver figure, because it means more zakat reaches people in need. Others prefer gold, arguing that it sits closer to the value of the nisab in the Prophet's time. Islamic Relief sets out both positions. If you're not sure which applies to you, follow the scholar or zakat body you normally rely on.

Step 1: Pick your zakat date

Choose one date in the Islamic calendar and use it every year. Many people pick a day in Ramadan, others the anniversary of the day their savings first reached the nisab. What matters is consistency: you take a snapshot of your wealth on the same Hijri date each year.

To find that date in the Gregorian calendar, the Hijri date converter turns a Hijri day into its Gregorian equivalent and back. It offers the Umm al-Qura and tabular calendars and lets you shift the result by up to two days for local moon sighting, so you can put the right day in your diary well ahead.

Step 2: List what counts

On your zakat date, write down the value of each of these:

• Cash, both at home and in current and savings accounts, including mobile wallets.
• Gold and silver in any form: coins, bars and, in some views, jewellery. Value them by weight at today's price for the karat you actually own.
• Business stock, meaning goods bought to sell, at what they would sell for today.
• Money owed to you that you expect to be repaid. Some people pay zakat on it every year; others wait until it comes back and then pay for the years it was out. Islamic Relief mentions both options.
• Shares and investment funds. How much of a long-term holding to count is one of the areas where opinions differ.

Things you own for your own use are not counted: the home you live in, your car, furniture, clothes and household goods. Tools and equipment you use to run a business are also left out; only the stock you sell is counted.

Step 3: Subtract debts that are due now

Take off what you have to pay now: this month's bills, rent that is due, and the current instalment on any loan. The usual guidance is not to subtract the full outstanding balance of a mortgage or car loan, only the payment that is due. How to treat larger long-term debts is another point on which scholars differ.

Step 4: Compare with the nisab and apply 2.5%

Add up Step 2, subtract Step 3, and you have your net zakatable wealth. Now work out the nisab in your currency: multiply the nisab weight by today's price per gram for that metal. If your net wealth is at or above it, zakat is 2.5% of the whole net amount, not just the part above the nisab. If it's below, no zakat is due this year.

A worked example

The prices below are invented to keep the arithmetic clear. Look up today's local rates before you do your own sums.

Suppose gold is 100 per gram and silver is 1.25 per gram, in any currency. The nisab is then:

Now say that on your zakat date you have:

• 3,000 in the bank and 500 in cash at home
• 10 g of gold coins, worth 10 × 100 = 1,000
• 1,000 lent to a relative, who has said they will repay it
• 500 in bills due this week

Your assets total 3,000 + 500 + 1,000 + 1,000 = 5,500. Subtract the 500 due now and your net zakatable wealth is 5,000.

Against the silver nisab of 765.45, you are well above the threshold, so zakat is 5,000 × 2.5% = 125. Against either gold nisab, 5,000 is below the threshold and no zakat would be due. The same household, with the same money, gets two different answers depending on the standard, which is why the choice in the section above is worth settling first.

Doing it with the calculator

The zakat calculator follows the same four steps. You type in the current price of gold and silver where you live, quoted per gram or per tola (1 tola is taken as 11.6638 g), then your gold and silver by weight, cash, business stock, money owed to you, and shares and other savings. A separate field takes debts due now.

It offers three nisab standards: silver at 612.36 g (52.5 tola), gold at 87.48 g (7.5 tola), and gold at 85 g. Silver is the default standard and tola the default unit; switch to grams if that is how your jeweller quotes prices. There is no 595 g silver option, so if your zakat body uses that figure, multiply 595 by the silver price yourself and compare the result with the net wealth it shows.

The result gives the zakat due, or tells you your wealth is below the nisab, along with the value of your gold and silver, total assets, net wealth and the nisab in money. A few limits are worth knowing:

• It counts gold and silver jewellery if you enter it. If you follow a view that exempts jewellery you wear, leave that out.
• It does not track dates or the hawl. It calculates on the figures you give it for one day.
• It gives one figure for the whole household's entries, so if family members pay separately, calculate for each person.

Everything is worked out in your browser, and none of your figures are sent anywhere or saved. See our privacy policy for details.

Where opinions differ

Scholars and schools of thought hold different positions on several points that can change your total:

• Jewellery in personal use. The Hanafi school counts it; other schools generally exempt jewellery that is worn regularly.
• Pensions and retirement funds, particularly balances that are locked until retirement.
• Long-term debts, and how much of them can be deducted.
• Shares held for the long term, and what value to count for them.
• Which nisab to use, as covered above.

Where your situation touches any of these, a short conversation with a qualified scholar or your national zakat body is worth more than any general guide.

A short checklist

• Your zakat date is fixed on the Hijri calendar and noted in your diary.
• You have today's gold and silver prices, for the karat you own.
• Cash, bank balances, gold, silver, stock, money owed and investments are listed.
• Only debts due now have been subtracted.
• You know which nisab standard you follow and why.
• Anything unusual, such as a pension, a business partnership or a large loan, has been checked with a scholar.

Zakat is an act of worship as well as a sum, and taking the time to get it right is part of giving it well. For questions about this guide or the tools, write to hello@fileora.tools.