I have a partnership business and both of the partners agree to pay zakat for our business. Now I have two confusions in calculating it.
1. Stock Value is whether the total value of the running stock as on date or the value of stock blocked for 360 days only?
2. Is there any separate nisab amount to be deducted from the total stock value of the business from nisab amount of our separate personal assets?
Kindly clear the fact as I am opting to calculate zakat properly as per as possible.
Reaz Laskar
[email protected]
Islamic Voice replies:
Let us clarify that Zakat is payable by individuals, not by firms. If you are a partner in a business, you should take out Zakat according to your share in business.
Secondly, the Zakat on businesses like grocery shops, cloth store, footwear showroom etc will be calculated on stock held on the day after passage of 355 days (or one Islamic lunar year). It is not on the stock lying unsold for over 355 days. In a store selling grocery, clothes, footwear etc, the things will be moving and one stock will be sold out and the new stock will be coming replacing it. So there is no condition of paying zakat on things lying for one year. Suppose you started a garment store on January 1 in a particular year by investing Rs. five lakh. You will have to calculate the zakat on December 20 of that year. On this particular date you will calculate the wholesale value of the clothes the shop would stock. You will also add up the cash in hand and will minus the loans etc you have incurred. Now if the obtaining figure exceeds the nisab, you will be liable to pay 2.5% of the total value by way of Zakat. In the case of partnership businesses, you will calculate your share of the total value and take out Zakat accordingly. If both partners have other assets, rents coming from buildings let out or fixed deposits in banks, both will separately calculate the total worth of wealth they possess.
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