How to Calculate Zakat in Pakistan: Nisab, Gold & Cash

Updated 27 October 2026

Zakat is 2.5% of the zakatable wealth you have held for one lunar year, provided it is at or above the nisab. The maths is simple once you know what to include. This guide walks through it in rupees and tola, the way most Pakistani families measure gold and silver.

1. Pick your zakat date

Zakat is due once a lunar (Hijri) year has passed on wealth at or above the nisab. Many people use 1st Ramadan or the date they first reached nisab. Use the same date every year and value everything on that day.

2. Add up zakatable assets

• Gold and silver – jewellery, coins and bars, valued at the day's sale price per tola (1 tola = 11.664 g).
• Cash at home and balances in current and savings accounts.
• Prize bonds, saving certificates and money you have lent and expect back.
• Business stock at its current sale value, plus business receivables.
• Shares and mutual funds held for trading.

Your own house, car, furniture and household items are not zakatable. Property bought to resell is counted; property you rent out is not, though the rent you have saved is.

3. Subtract what you owe now

Deduct debts due immediately – unpaid bills, a committee instalment that is due, money borrowed from family. For long-term loans such as a mortgage, scholars commonly allow only the instalments currently due.

4. Compare with the nisab

The nisab is 52.5 tola of silver or 7.5 tola of gold. Because silver is far cheaper, the silver nisab is much lower and most scholars in Pakistan recommend it when your wealth is a mix of cash and gold. For example, at an illustrative silver price of Rs 4,000 per tola the silver nisab is 52.5 × 4,000 = Rs 210,000.

5. Multiply by 2.5%

If your net zakatable wealth is Rs 1,500,000, zakat is 1,500,000 × 2.5% = Rs 37,500. Our zakat calculator does this with today's gold and silver prices and lets you switch between the silver and gold nisab.

Bank deduction on 1st Ramadan

Banks deduct zakat at source from savings and PLS accounts on 1st Ramadan when the balance is above the nisab announced by the government. Current accounts are not deducted. If you pay zakat yourself or follow a fiqh that exempts you, you can submit a zakat exemption declaration (CZ-50) to your bank before Ramadan. Amounts deducted by the bank count towards your zakat, so subtract them from your own calculation.

This guide is general information. For personal rulings, consult a scholar you trust.