Is zakah obligatory on houses and cars?

Q: A man has cars and houses and spends their proceeds on his family, such that he does not save any amount for a full year. Is he required to pay zakah on this wealth? When does zakah become obligatory on cars and houses? And what is the amount?

A: If the houses and cars are for personal use, or for benefiting from their rental income, then there is no zakah on them. However, if they, or some of them, are for trade, then it is obligatory for you to pay zakah on the value of what you have prepared for trade, whenever a lunar year of possession has passed over them. If you spend them on the needs of the house, or on acts of charity, or on other needs before a lunar year of possession has passed over them, then you owe no zakah; due to the generality of the evidence regarding this matter from the verses and hadiths.