Is Zakat Due on Savings for Which Zakat was Paid the Previous Year?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question: Does one have to pay zakah on money or savings that he has already paid zakah on from the previous year?

For example if last year i saved 30,000 dollars and paid the zakah which equaled 750 dollars. And now this year I still have that 30,000 dollars saved and haven’t spent it from the previous year, must I pay the zakah on that amount again this year? Jazak Allahu Khair.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and states.

Yes, zakat is due on savings for which one has already paid zakat on from the previous year.

The basic idea is as follows: once a person has the minimum zakatable amount (called nisab), then that day is one’s zakat ‘due-date’.

So after one lunar year, on that due-date, one sees if one still has nisab. If so, zakat is due on all of one’s monetary assets (cash, gold, silver, trade goods, etc.). If one does not have nisab, then no zakat is due.

For each subsequent year, on that due-date, as long as one has nisab, one pays zakat on all of one’s monetary assets: whether saved from the previous year or acquired since.
[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; Haskafi, Durr al-Mukhtar]

Here is a related answer:

How Do You Determine How Much You Pay for Zakat When You Constantly Receive New Wealth During the Year?

I hope this is clear, and Allah knows best.

wassalam
Faraz

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani