How Should the Zakat on a Rental Income Be Calculated?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

If one has a rental property, the zakat due at the end of the lunar year is on the rental income, not the property value or original capital.

What if the monthly or quarterly rental income is totally spent before a full lunar year ends?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

The rental income, if any, is simply included with your other assets on the day your zakat is due. There is no expectation to calculate all earnings and the like because zakat is a charity paid on what you own on your due date alone. Hence, if there is nothing to include, you don’t need to do anything more.

Please also see: Is Your Zakat Due? – A Reader and Resources on Giving Zakat and: Zakat: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.