Step-by-step guide

Zakaat guide — working out and paying your zakaat

Each step below is taken from the cited fatawa (Hanafi). For the arithmetic, use the zakaat calculator.

Based on the fatawa linked below. Please read the sources and double-check with a Darul Ifta for your situation.

Consult a mufti for your situation. Fatawa SA is a read-only archive and issues no rulings of its own.

Working it out

Know your zakaat date (lunar)
Your zakaat date is the Islamic date on which you first owned the nisaab; zakaat is due when a lunar year passes over it. Zakaat should be worked out on the lunar calendar, not the Gregorian.
Sources: Camperdown, Azaadville, Azaadville
Count your zakaatable assets on that date
Cash at home or in the bank, foreign currency, gold, silver, money owed to you through loans or the sale of goods, and the zakaatable assets behind your shares.
Sources: Mufti Online
Include gold and silver jewellery
Zakaat is paid on gold and silver jewellery whether it is worn or put away.
Sources: AskImam, Amjadi
Value trade stock at its selling price
Stock for sale is valued at its current market (selling) price on the zakaat date, not cost price.
Sources: Camperdown, Azaadville, Ibn Masood
Leave out personal-use items
Items for personal use (home, car, clothing) are not zakaatable; in a business, furniture and machinery not for sale are not zakaatable.
Sources: Ibn Masood, AskImam
Deduct what you owe
Deduct debts you owe. For a long-term loan (such as a home loan) deduct only what you must pay in the coming year.
Sources: Azaadville, AskImam, AskImam
Compare with the nisaab
The nisaab is the value of 612.36 g of silver. Where you own only gold and nothing else zakaatable, the gold nisaab of 87.48 g applies.
Sources: Jamiat KZN, Mufti Online, Ibn Masood, Camperdown
Pay 2.5%
If the net amount reaches the nisaab, pay 2.5% of it.
Sources: Mufti Online, Camperdown, Azaadville