If a person buys a property but does not complete its construction, when does he pay its zakah? Is it upon completing the construction or upon selling it?
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The questioner : If a person buys a property, but has not finished building it, when does the zakah become due on it? Is it when the construction is completed or when he sells it?
The Shaykh : I do not know the intention of the one who bought it. He says he bought a house. If his intention is to live in it or to rent it out, there is no zakah on it.
However, if his intention is trade, he must pay zakah on it from the time he bought it, and its lunar year is the same as the lunar year of the wealth he already possessed. For example, if he bought this house after eight months had passed of the zakah lunar year, he pays its zakah when four months are completed, because trade goods do not require a full lunar year as long as they are based on a previous lunar year.
The Shaykh : I do not know the intention of the one who bought it. He says he bought a house. If his intention is to live in it or to rent it out, there is no zakah on it.
However, if his intention is trade, he must pay zakah on it from the time he bought it, and its lunar year is the same as the lunar year of the wealth he already possessed. For example, if he bought this house after eight months had passed of the zakah lunar year, he pays its zakah when four months are completed, because trade goods do not require a full lunar year as long as they are based on a previous lunar year.