Zakat is 2.5% of the savings you have held for a full lunar year, once they reach the nisab.
Add your zakatable assets (cash, gold and silver, investments at market value, money reliably owed to you, business inventory), subtract debts due now, and if the result has stayed at or above the nisab for one full lunar year, zakat is 2.5% of it. Calculating on the solar calendar instead uses 2.577% to account for the longer year.
The nisab is the minimum wealth at which zakat becomes due: the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. Because metal prices move daily, the threshold in your currency changes with them, this calculator asks for today's price rather than showing a stale number. Many scholars advise using the lower silver threshold so that more charity reaches those entitled to it.
Stocks, funds, and crypto you can access are generally zakatable at market value, with more detailed treatments differing by school, particularly for long-term holdings and locked retirement accounts, where accessibility and intention matter. The straightforward safer course is market value on accessible holdings; ask a knowledgeable scholar about locked accounts in your situation.
Debts due immediately or within the coming year, bills, taxes owed, upcoming installments, are deductible in most contemporary guidance. The full principal of a long-term mortgage is generally not deducted; only its currently due payments are.
The Qur'an (9:60) names eight categories, foremost the poor and the needy. Zakat cannot be given to one's own dependents, and most scholars hold it should go to eligible Muslims. Local mosques and reputable zakat organizations distribute it, your local masjid often knows the need closest to you. In greater Los Angeles, see Muslim-led organizations.
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