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Zakat and Khums on plot

Q:

Aslam o Alaikum!

I had money for the plot which I bought. According to the agreement, I have given a portion of the money to the residential scheme owner and rest of the money I will give him after getting NOC for the residential scheme which will take some years. So, I kept that remaining money in the bank in salary saving account and getting profit with variable percentage. Now, I have a little extra money in my account than the actual remaining amount of my plot, but it never goes like this. Often my expenses go higher than my income (salary) and I withdraw money from this plot amount in bank which I equalize afterwards through reducing my expenses or getting profit from the bank.

In this situation, I want advice for zakat and khums. If I pay zakat and khums then total amount in bank can go down from the actual remaining of my plot. For example, if I have 100000 in bank with 2% to 4% profit margin, then it will be 104000 after one year. And if I have to pay zakat (2.5%) and khums (5%) which would be 7500, then I will have 96500 left in my bank. So, kindly advise, either zakat and khums is admissible on total amount or the amount left after deduction of plot amount or on the profit I am getting on that deposited amount, etc.

A:

Wa Alaykumussalam

Thank you for your question.

There is no Zakat on Land.

According to Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid Ali Sistany Zakat is Wajib on 10 things: 

Ruling 1871. Zakat is obligatory (wājib) on ten things:

1. wheat; 2. barley; 3. dates; 4. raisins; 5. gold; 6. silver; 7. camels; 8. cows; 9. sheep [and goats]; 10. business goods, based on obligatory precaution (al-ihtiyāt al-wājib).

Plot or Land are not amongst the obligatory things on which Zakat has to be paid. Therefore, Zakat is not at all wajib on it. But if Khums has not been paid on the land or plot then you will have to pay Khums on your land.

Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid Ali Sistany’s office answered regarding the plot you have bought:

As the money which is in your account belongs to you, so you will have to pay khums on it. If you don’t have money other than this then you can pay the amount for the plot you have bought but the khums will be remaining as debt on you which should be paid whenever you are able to pay. And khums will have to be paid on the profit as well.

Once the khums has been paid on the original amount which is in your bank, if the same amount remains in the bank till next year whenever you have selected the khums date(= the date you had selected to count the profit, surplus to pay khums), then you will not have pay khums on that particular amount, only the profit would be eligible for khums.
Let’s say you have $100,000 in your bank and you use this amount till next year and another $100,000 comes instead of that, then Khums must be paid on this particular amount as you have used the amount on which Khums was paid. Khums is 20% of the total amount khums payable on. 

Wassalam,

Syed Haider