Zakat on a Worker’s Wages
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 19320 )
Q: Some foreign workers in the Jazirah region ask that they work for their sponsors for a period of three years. During this time, the sponsor gives the worker some of his wages to cover his pressing need for living expenses, which is deducted from his wages. When the worker completes the agreed-upon period and wishes to travel to his country, he settles accounts with his sponsor for the aforementioned years, and the sponsor gives him whatever remains of his wages. Is zakat obligatory on the worker? We ask your Eminence to inform us so that we may be able to inform them.
A: The wages a worker has earned by completing the period he worked for his sponsor, if a lunar year has passed and he is able to take possession of them—meaning that if he demands them from the sponsor he works for, the sponsor pays them to him without delay or refusal—then they are in the ruling of money in his possession. It is obligatory for the worker to pay zakat on them at the end of each lunar year after the year has completed from the time they became due. However, if the sponsor is delaying payment or is unable to settle the debt, and the worker is unable to obtain his wages when he asks for them, then they are in the ruling of a debt owed by someone who is not wealthy. It is not obligatory for him to pay zakat on them as long as they are with his sponsor. If he takes possession of them, he starts a new lunar year with them.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: Some foreign workers in the Jazirah region ask that they work for their sponsors for a period of three years. During this time, the sponsor gives the worker some of his wages to cover his pressing need for living expenses, which is deducted from his wages. When the worker completes the agreed-upon period and wishes to travel to his country, he settles accounts with his sponsor for the aforementioned years, and the sponsor gives him whatever remains of his wages. Is zakat obligatory on the worker? We ask your Eminence to inform us so that we may be able to inform them.
A: The wages a worker has earned by completing the period he worked for his sponsor, if a lunar year has passed and he is able to take possession of them—meaning that if he demands them from the sponsor he works for, the sponsor pays them to him without delay or refusal—then they are in the ruling of money in his possession. It is obligatory for the worker to pay zakat on them at the end of each lunar year after the year has completed from the time they became due. However, if the sponsor is delaying payment or is unable to settle the debt, and the worker is unable to obtain his wages when he asks for them, then they are in the ruling of a debt owed by someone who is not wealthy. It is not obligatory for him to pay zakat on them as long as they are with his sponsor. If he takes possession of them, he starts a new lunar year with them.
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.