Is there zakah on an employee's salary?

The questioner : This is a questioner for the program who has coded his name with a thousand, a thousand, a thousand. He asks: Is there zakah on an employee's salary that he pays out every month or every year? Please guide us on this.

The Shaykh : An employee, like anyone else, owes zakah if the money remains with him for a year and the lunar year (hawl) is completed. However, if he spends his salary before the year is complete, such that no month passes without him spending his entire salary, then there is no zakah on that salary. But if he has other wealth subject to zakah, then there is zakah on that. So, if this employee's salary is three thousand riyals and he spends it all every month, spending three thousand riyals for example, then there is no zakah on it because the lunar year is not completed on it, and he has no wealth on which the lunar year has been completed. May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : The questioner is Ibrahim A. from...

The Shaykh : If the salary is large, more than the expenses, is the lunar year calculated from the first month he received the salary, or what? We say: There is no doubt that the lunar year is determined for each salary according to its own timing. So, when the lunar year is completed on what remains of the salary for the month of Muharram, he pays zakah on it. Then, when the month of Safar comes, he pays zakah for the month of Safar, and so on. This is undoubtedly difficult for a person. Therefore, we see that he should designate a specific month to calculate his zakatable wealth and then pay the zakah in that month, whether the lunar year has been completed on some of it or not, in order to make it easier for him to pay the zakah. May Allah reward you with good.