Question:
Asalaamu Alaikum
How would an individual or company that provides services and sales calculate its Zakah specifically on revenues not yet received? Please note that some invoices are specifically for items sold, some specifically for labor and services and some a combination of both.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Before answering your question it is important to understand two factors;
Firstly, Zakah is only levied upon Zakatable Assets. Zakatable assets are of two types:
(i) Cash/Gold/Silver, once in the ownership of a person Zakah will be levied upon the owner regardless of his intent (e.g. to buy something, to save, to build a house, go for Hajj, to be given to children, for charity, etc.), it does not matter.
(ii) Items for trade, whatever item purchased with the intent of resale is a Zakatable asset regardless of its worth provided that the item is permissible according to the Shariah.
Secondly, Receivable loans/debts/revenues would only be considered a Zakatable Asset if owed to the individual or company on account of any of these two types of Zakatable Assets i.e. through loaning of cash or sale of goods (this is referred to by the Jurists as strong receivable loans).
Therefore, as for your query, the receivable revenues due to services and labour would not be subjected to Zakah as it is considered as a weak debt. Only the revenues owed to due to the sale of commodities will be subjected to Zakah. As for the invoices that have a combination of both services and sales, then only the portion which amounts to the sale of items will be subjected to Zakah.
Furthermore, once these non-Zakatable revenues (i.e. due to services and labour) are collected and are in one’s possession at the end of his Zakatable year it will be subjected to Zakah by virtue of the first type of Zakatable Asset i.e. Cash.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Kaleem Muhammad
Darul Iftaa, Jaamia Madinatul Uloom (Trinidad)
www.fatwa-tt.com /www.jaamia.net
البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق ومنحة الخالق وتكملة الطوري (2/ 224)
قلت: وهذا صريح في أنه على الرواية الأولى من الدين الضعيف وعلى ظاهر الرواية من المتوسط لا من القوي؛ لأن المنافع ليست مال زكاة، وإن كانت مالا حقيقة تأمل
