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Zakat Query Salaried People Liabilities
AoA, I have gone through many of Ghamidi sahab’s videos and other discussions pertaining to Zakat on this site but still some confusions and questions that I would really like answers to as I will be starting my first job soon and have recently graduated:
1) Firstly, the impression that I have gotten from much of the content is that while considering your salary as a form of produce 10 percent Zakat would be applied, and that would be applicable the day you get your paycheck and should be paid asap. If my supposed salary is lets say PKR 100k and the day I get it I pay 10k as Zakat, but again, my overall expenditures are obviously more than 100k including my rent, utilities, food, bills, fuel, to live comfortably, and even if not more, I barely save anything and including all the miscellaneous costs, I save nothing and all that 100k is spent, so are my basic necessities exempted from Zakat, and would the 10 percent apply on the gross salary as a whole and then I would have to manage all the other things on the side, or would it be to deduct all my basic necessities, and then whatever remains, 10 percent of that would be paid in Zakat. In a video Ghamidi sb said that mortgages etc are exempted then according to that isn’t expenditure on rent, bills, fees, fuel, also exempted because I either owe that money or need it for personal use. And so the second question is also related.
2) The Nisab that is set, either by the government or yourself, is the Zakat applicable on the overall amount above the Nisab, or the Nisab is deducted and then Zakat paid on the remaining amount?
3) Lastly, the principles that Ghamidi sahab has applied under which salaried persons are liable for their paychecks as a form of produce, so I just had a general question that in the Prophet’s (SAW) era the people who were traders (I think silk and cloth trade was common during that time if I am not wrong) or who did other businesses or bought and sold stuff and earned profits or generated incomes other than agricultural produce, then how did they pay the Zakat? The standard 2.5% per year on all wealth or did they also consider their incomes as produce and pay 5, 10, or 20% respectively?
All these questions are just arising from the fact that I am going to be entering my professional life soon obviously first job’s dont pay that well and you have to live within your means and make do with what you have, and so the gist is that for every paycheck, 10 percent is just deducted in the first instance, or are things like rent, utility bills, food and fuel costs exempted and then from the remaining I have to pay 10 percent Zakat? Sorry if the post got unnecessarily long just would really appreciate some help.
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4 Replies
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Zakat Query Salaried People Liabilities
updated 2 months, 1 week ago
2 Members
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4
Replies
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Zakat obligations do not apply to mortgage debt, whereas other expenditures are subject to zakat. If your salary is taxable, the taxes paid can be considered equivalent to zakat payments. Indeed, all taxes can be counted towards fulfilling zakat obligations. Nevertheless, there is a debate among scholars regarding whether the nisab is included in the income subject to zakat. Our position is that nisab is included, necessitating zakat payment on gross salary. It is worth noting that during the Prophet’s era, zakat rates were 10% and 5% on agricultural produce and 2.5% on merchandise.
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Thank you for the response. Actually I got have gotten so many views from this forum and the videos that I have gotten confused. So if mortgage payments are excluded, then isn’t the rent too at a place that I don’t own but have rented from the owner? And some discussions here said that we can deduct the Nisab and then apply the Zakat on the remaining. And as per some discussions is it ok to use the minimum taxable income the government has set as the Nisab? And lastly sir, as you mentioned that during the Prophet’s era, the tax on merchandise was 2.5 %, then doesn’t this pose more questions? Because obviously those people during that time bought merch and then sold it and earned income from the Prophets but the standard 2.5 % was applied. And more importantly did they pay that 2.5 % yearly (as on wealth) or was it liable as soon as the income (profit) was earned?
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@Irfan76 sir could you please reply with a detailed explanation as the confusions in my first question still haven’t been answered. Isn’t rent and utility bills that are due to you in the same category of mortgage bills? How will they not be excluded from your salary on the calculation of Zakat? If the minimum taxable income is 50 thousand and lets say a person earns 150 thousand per month, and taking the rent and bills out leaves him with less than 50 thousand, is Zakat eligible on him? And if he has nothing much left to spend after rent and bill payments, then wouldn’t this push him into debt if he willy nilly pays 10 percent straight out of his salary to Zakah? Without considering how much he owes in bill payments and if he needs that 10 percent to maintain a decent living?
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If someone believes that the government’s taxable threshold is unjust and that the remaining amount after tax deductions is insufficient to meet their needs, they may choose not to pay zakat on their salary, considering the tax deduction as sufficient.
Rent and utility bills are payments for the services you use, so they are not exempted from zakat.
It is up to you to decide whether to include or exclude the Nisab when determining the amount of zakat to pay, whether on gross or net salary.
For merchandise, zakat is charged at a rate of 2.5 percent once a year, a practice followed since the time of the Prophet.
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