Valuation of commercial goods upon the completion of the lunar year
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 20679 )
Q: I am a merchant, and my goods are of varying types. When the year turns, I assess the inventory on display, then value it at the price at which I sell it, and I pay the zakah. I have been very generous in paying it. A student of knowledge told me that the zakah is like a loss. And I, O Shaykh, will explain to you something of
my method. For example, I bought five hundred pieces, the price of each piece being one hundred and thirty riyals. I then sell the pieces at prices that go up and down; sometimes I sell a piece for one hundred and seventy riyals, sometimes for two hundred riyals, sometimes for one hundred and fifty, and sometimes for four hundred and fifty. This merchandise may be sold in one year, two years, or ten years, and each year it is assessed and zakah is paid on it. So what I am asking about is: at which of these values do I pay zakah? Knowing that if I gathered them at one time and wanted to sell them, they would not even be worth the price at which I bought them. I am a seller, not a trader, and in some years I have no liquidity, and my merchandise can only be sold at a very low price. So what is the solution?
A: What you do in valuing your commercial goods upon the completion of the lunar year is what is obligatory upon you. You must value the goods at what they are worth upon the completion of the lunar year, without looking at the price at which you bought them, and you pay one-fourth of a tenth of their value at the time the lunar year is completed. What you pay in excess of that is in the category of voluntary charity, and you have a reward for it. If you leave paying it, there is no sin upon you. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I am a merchant, and my goods are of varying types. When the year turns, I assess the inventory on display, then value it at the price at which I sell it, and I pay the zakah. I have been very generous in paying it. A student of knowledge told me that the zakah is like a loss. And I, O Shaykh, will explain to you something of
my method. For example, I bought five hundred pieces, the price of each piece being one hundred and thirty riyals. I then sell the pieces at prices that go up and down; sometimes I sell a piece for one hundred and seventy riyals, sometimes for two hundred riyals, sometimes for one hundred and fifty, and sometimes for four hundred and fifty. This merchandise may be sold in one year, two years, or ten years, and each year it is assessed and zakah is paid on it. So what I am asking about is: at which of these values do I pay zakah? Knowing that if I gathered them at one time and wanted to sell them, they would not even be worth the price at which I bought them. I am a seller, not a trader, and in some years I have no liquidity, and my merchandise can only be sold at a very low price. So what is the solution?
A: What you do in valuing your commercial goods upon the completion of the lunar year is what is obligatory upon you. You must value the goods at what they are worth upon the completion of the lunar year, without looking at the price at which you bought them, and you pay one-fourth of a tenth of their value at the time the lunar year is completed. What you pay in excess of that is in the category of voluntary charity, and you have a reward for it. If you leave paying it, there is no sin upon you. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.