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Zakat Calculator Questions
I have some questions regarding use of zakat calculator on Ghamidi center of Islamic learning website.
1) In W-2 form, under Taxable W-2 wages, there is something called “exempt wages”. Should this number be added on “salaries and wages” on zakat calculator or we can subtract it from gross pay?
2) For “taxes paid” in zakat calculator, what should be added? Only federal, state and local income tax from W-2 form should be counted or social security & Medicare tax withheld should also be counted?
3) Again, for “taxes paid” in zakat calculator, what should go towards sales tax when calculating taxes paid? Can we add all the sales taxes we paid for all the stuff (grocery, online shopping etc) we bought through out the year (6.625% in NJ).
4) Finally a suggestion:
This Zakat calculator is not very easy to use. So many questions come to mind once you start using it. Is it possible to have someone from Ghamidi center do a short 15-20 min video on this zakat calculator and take us through all the steps. That would be really helpful.
Thanks
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6 Replies
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Zakat Calculator Questions
updated 2 years, 8 months ago
3 Members
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6
Replies
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Every field in the Zakat Calculator displays help text under that field once you place your cursor in it. The help text tells you exactly what number goes in that field.
The wages and earnings field tells you to enter “total gross amount earned with labor but without financial investment excluding any amount exempt by your state.”
Similarly, the taxes paid field tells you to enter “total amount of direct an indirect taxes you have paid including state and federal income tax, property tax, sales tax and duties.” Social Security and Medicare should not be added to this field because they’re meant to provide future individual benefits.
If you follow the directions provided in the help text, your zakat will be calculated exactly as it should be. When you have a question, please don’t hesitate to post on Ask Ghamidi. A help video is a great idea. Insha’Allah I will share it with relevant people.
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Yes I am aware of help text but still some things were not clear like social security and medicare tax. Thanks for the clarification.
One more question regarding taxes paid field. This calculator doesn’t talk about the refund we receive from IRS. In calculating “taxes paid”, shouldn’t we be deducting the refund we receive, from total taxes paid (federal, state and local income tax shown on the W-2 form).
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Refunds are issued by the IRS in cases where an individual has paid more tax then they were supposed to. If you have received any refund then of course you would deduct it from the total amount of taxes paid.
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Also if you could please help me calculate the sales tax so that I could add it to other taxes and enter the total amount in “taxes paid” field. Its 6.625% in my state.
Can I just open my credit card/debit card statements and get the total amount I spent on all kinds of shopping last year (grocery, clothing, online shopping etc) and get the 6.625% of the total amount. Would that be the sales tax or this understand is wrong?
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Keep in mind there is no tax on food items.
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You can use IRS Sales Tax Deduction Calculator.
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