References & Sources
Evidence used to explain the general principle. These references do not replace personal scholar review.
4 Sources & 1 Scholarly Opinions
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Business zakat falls on the trading assets, not on the business. You count stock you intend to sell at what you could sell it for today, cash in the business accounts, and money customers owe you that you expect to recover. You exclude premises, fixtures, machinery, delivery vehicles, computers and anything else used to run the business rather than sold - these are the means of production and zakat does not fall on them. From that total you deduct short-term liabilities actually due: supplier invoices, wages owed, rent payable. The most common errors are valuing stock at cost rather than resale price, and including equipment that should be excluded. For a partnership or company, each partner calculates on their proportional share according to their own zakat date, and the business does not owe zakat as an entity.
Current direction: Needs Scholar Review. This page needs a qualified scholar to verify the exact ruling before a reader relies on it.
Educational guidance only, not a fatwa. Consult a qualified scholar for your specific case. Page created August 26, 2026.
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Selling price - what you could realistically achieve today. This is the most common error in business zakat and in a business with healthy margins it changes the figure substantially. For old or damaged stock, use what it would actually fetch rather than full retail; writing down genuinely dead stock is legitimate. Aspirational retail prices for obsolete inventory are not.
Because zakat does not fall on the means of production. It is the same principle that exempts a rented flat and a taxi driver's taxi. A bakery pays zakat on the flour and the bread, not on the ovens. Premises, machinery, vehicles, computers and fittings are what you trade with rather than what you trade, so they sit outside the calculation entirely - however valuable they are.
Debts you reasonably expect to collect are counted at face value. Genuinely doubtful debts - a customer who has stopped responding, an invoice long overdue - are generally excluded until actually recovered, with zakat then paid for the year of recovery. What is not legitimate is classifying collectable debt as doubtful to reduce the figure.
Evidence used to explain the general principle. These references do not replace personal scholar review.
4 Sources & 1 Scholarly Opinions
Compare the general position and the details scholars usually check.
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