Zakah on trade goods: based on cost or current value

Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The questioner says: Is the zakah on trade goods based on the cost price or on their current value?

Answer:
The zakah on trade, meaning trade goods and merchandise intended for sale, is calculated based on their value if a lunar year has passed over them. It is based on the value at which you acquired them, even if you bought them only today. One does not look at the item itself, but at its value at the time you took possession of it.
It is based on the capital for which they were purchased. If a lunar year has passed, if you have money, you pay its zakah by giving one-fourth of a tenth of it. If you have goods, you appraise them at their value at the end of the lunar year, and you do not look at the price for which you bought them. No, do not look at what you paid for them; look at what they are worth at the end of the lunar year. You take from them and pay their zakah by giving one-fourth of a tenth, which is two and a half percent. This is the zakah on trade, which consists of goods, because people call trade goods. Trade in general includes goods, money, land, houses, and so on. Yes.