Question:

I have a computer company which has been established now for a whole year. I would like to pay any zakat that I owe, how should I do this? As a company we do have debts and people owe us money as well. At the beginning of starting the business we had some merchandise in storage. Will the debts and the merchandise be considered in calculating the zakat.

Answer:

All perfect praise is for Allah ﷻ, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah ﷻ, and that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is His Messenger.

If any Muslim has a trading company like the questioner, then the following is what they should do regarding the zakat payments.

Any debts that the company owes, and any fixed assets will not be included in the calculation for zakat. However, money that is owed to the company will be considered as well as any merchandise which is calculated at the wholesale price. The capital and current assets are also all included when calculating zakat.

This calculation will be done when a whole lunar year has passed then zakat will become wajib at 2.5%.

And Allah ﷻ knows best.

This fatwa is written by Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Munir Al-Azhari