Islamic · Zakat
Zakat on Rental Income Calculator
Work out Zakat on the rental income you hold as cash — not on the rental property itself — at 2.5% above nisab.
Step by step
How this is worked out
Enter rental income held as cash
What you've collected and still hold — not the property's value.
Add other cash & savings
Combine with any other zakatable cash you hold.
Subtract debts due
Liabilities due for payment now.
Check against nisab
2.5% of the net amount, once above nisab.
Reading the result
The building is not zakatable; the rent you still hold is
A property bought to let out is not stock in trade. It is an income-producing asset, and the majority position is that no Zakat is due on its capital value however much it is worth.
What is zakatable is the rent. Specifically, the rent still in your hands on your Zakat date — not the rent you collected over the year and then spent. Someone who received substantial rent and used it on living costs may hold very little when the date comes round.
A property held to resell is different
If you bought the property intending to sell it on at a profit, most scholars treat it as trade goods, and its whole market value becomes zakatable. The distinction is your intention at the time of purchase, not what the building physically is.
Intention that changes partway through is a genuine question of fiqh rather than arithmetic, and worth asking about properly.
Costs that reduce the amount
Rent you have received but must pay out — an outstanding repair bill, property tax that has fallen due, a maintenance contract already incurred — reduces what you actually hold. Deduct liabilities that are genuinely due now, not costs you expect at some point in the future.
Where this stops
This is Zakat, which is a separate obligation from income tax on rent. The two are calculated differently, on different bases, and paying one does not reduce the other.
For the tax side, use the rental income tax calculator.
FAQs
Zakat on rental income FAQs
Is Zakat due on the rental property itself?
Generally not — a property held to generate rental income (not for resale) is treated as a productive asset rather than a zakatable one, per the mainstream Hanafi view. Zakat is due on the rental income once received and held as cash.
What if I hold the property for resale, not rent?
A different rule applies — property held for trading/resale is normally valued and zakated as business stock-in-trade. See the Zakat on Business Inventory Calculator.
Does it matter how long I've held the rental income?
Zakat applies to cash you still hold on your Zakat due-date (your personal Zakat anniversary/hawl), regardless of when during the year it was received — as long as your total zakatable wealth stays above nisab throughout.
Do I deduct property-related expenses?
Deduct any related debts or liabilities due now (e.g. an outstanding loan installment) from your zakatable cash. Routine costs already spent aren't part of the cash you currently hold, so they don't need separate deduction.
Related tools
Also checking income tax on the rent?
Zakat and income tax on rent are calculated separately — see the withholding tax on rental income.
Open Withholding Property Income Tax Calculator