How to Calculate Zakat in Pakistan (2026)
· 7 min read
What counts as zakatable wealth, how the silver and gold nisab work in rupees, what to deduct, and a worked example of 2.5% zakat on cash and gold.
The short version
- Add up cash, bank balances, gold, silver, investments and business stock.
- Subtract debts and bills that are due now.
- If what's left is at or above the nisab and you have held it for a lunar year, pay 2.5% of it.
Step 1: Work out the nisab in rupees
Nisab is the minimum wealth on which zakat becomes due. It is defined by weight: 52.5 tola (612.36 g) of silver or 7.5 tola (87.48 g) of gold.
Multiply by today's market price per tola. Because silver is far cheaper than gold, the silver nisab is much lower — which is why most scholars in Pakistan recommend it: more people pay, and more reaches those in need.
Step 2: List what is zakatable
- Cash at home and money in current, savings and foreign-currency accounts.
- Gold and silver — coins, bars and (under the Hanafi view followed by most Pakistanis) jewellery.
- Shares, mutual funds, National Savings certificates and prize bonds at current value.
- Business stock at sale value, and money owed to you that you expect to recover.
What is not zakatable
- The home you live in, your car, furniture, clothes and household items.
- Tools and machinery you use to earn a living.
- Plots bought to live on — but plots held for resale are usually treated as trade goods.
Step 3: Deduct what you owe
Subtract debts and bills that are due now — unpaid rent, utility bills, salaries, the current instalments of a loan. For long-term loans such as a mortgage, many scholars allow deducting only the instalments currently due, not the whole balance.
A worked example
Suppose you have Rs 3,00,000 in the bank and 5 tola of gold. At about Rs 4,40,000 per tola, the gold is worth Rs 22,00,000, so your total is Rs 25,00,000. With no debts due, that is well above the silver nisab (52.5 × about Rs 6,500 ≈ Rs 3,41,000).
Zakat = 2.5% × Rs 25,00,000 = Rs 62,500. Prices change daily, so enter today's rates in the zakat calculator for your own figure.
Bank zakat deduction on 1 Ramadan
Under Pakistan's Zakat and Ushr Ordinance, banks deduct 2.5% from savings accounts above the government-announced nisab on the first of Ramadan. If you follow a school of thought that requires you to pay zakat yourself, you can submit a CZ-50 declaration to your bank before Ramadan to stop the automatic deduction.
Whatever the bank deducts counts towards your zakat — subtract it from the total you calculate.