An article explaining zakat investasi, that is, zakat on the proceeds of assets that are leased out or made productive, such as property, vehicles, shares, and factories, together with how to calculate it.
Understanding Zakat Investasi for Muslims
Investment is the placement of capital or money into a production process through the purchase of buildings, machinery, reserve materials, operating costs, and their development.
Thus, capital reserves are expanded insofar as there is no need for goods-capital to be replaced. This is according to an Indonesian encyclopedia.
At present, capital investment is carried out in various business sectors, such as hotels, housing, guest houses, factories, transportation, retail, etc.
Zakat investasi is zakat levied on wealth obtained from the proceeds of investment, for example a building or vehicle that is leased out.
This is done by a company if it has a budget surplus to fund its core activities.
The purpose of this investment is to generate income or for trading purposes.
Zakat investasi is zakat levied on wealth obtained from the proceeds of investment.
Among the forms of business included as investment are buildings or offices that are leased out, shares, car rentals, tenanted houses, and investment in livestock or fish ponds, etc.
Long-term investment can take the form of investment in bonds and real estate. In this modern era, investment is a highly vital economic sector.
What is meant by zakat investasi is wealth in which what is subject to zakat is not the asset itself, but the proceeds of its output.
The following are examples of wealth included as investment, among others.
Wahbah al-Zuhaili in al-fiqh al-islamy wa Adillatuhu states that at present, capital in the form of money is not only concentrated on land cultivation and trade, but has also been directed toward the construction of buildings for lease, factories, and air, sea, and land transportation facilities, among others.
Yusuf al-Qardhawi in Fiqh al-Zakat terms this activity al-musthaghallat or investment, whether for leasing or for carrying out production activities that are then sold.
He gives the example of housing, transportation equipment that is leased out, and even factories that manufacture various commodities to then be sold in markets.
Some scholars, such as Ibnu Hazm (d. 465 H) and several other scholars, state that this type of wealth is not a source of zakat. Therefore zakat is not obligatory on this wealth. They put forward several reasons, as follows:
First, the Messenger of Allah SAW explained in detail the sources on which zakat must be paid. It turns out these sources are not found in his explanation; in other words, there is no text from the Messenger of Allah saw requiring zakat on these items.
Second, they also hold the view that fiqh scholars, throughout the ages, have never required it
Meanwhile another group, such as scholars of the Hanbali school, the Maliki school, the Hadawiyyah scholars of the Zaidiyyah school, as well as Abu Zahra, Abdul Wahhab Khallaf, and Abdurrahman Hasan, hold that zakat must be paid on this wealth. Their reasons are as follows:
Surah At-Taubah verse 103.
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَلِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُ هُمْ وَ تُزَ كِّيهِمْ بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيهِمْ إنَّ صَلَوتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَهُمْ وَاللهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمُ.
"Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify and sanctify them, and pray for them. Indeed, your prayer is a source of tranquillity for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing." (at-Taubah: 103).
There is also general hadith, such as the narration by Imam Turmudzi from Abu Hurairah, the Messenger of Allah saw said:
"If you have paid the zakat on your wealth, then you have fulfilled the obligation."
Also his saying:
"Pay, all of you, the zakat on your wealth."
Zakat Investasi is zakat levied on wealth obtained from the proceeds of investment.
Among the forms of business included as investment are buildings or offices that are leased out, shares, car rentals, tenanted houses, and investment in livestock or fish ponds.
What must be given as zakat is not the value of the investment itself, but the income earned from that investment.
If it is in the form of a tenanted house, then what is subject to zakat is the rental income, and if it is a vehicle that is leased out, then the rental income. If it is a factory or industry, then the value of its output. If it is shares, then the value of their increase.
Zakat is not calculated based on the passage of a year, but based on when the proceeds are received. Whenever money is received, zakat is then paid on it.
The investment wealth on which zakat is paid is the income received from that investment after deducting basic needs.
This is one opinion that is suitable to apply to those whose income is relatively small, while their livelihood depends heavily on this investment. So, zakat is not paid on gross income, but zakat is paid after deducting basic living expenses.
However, there is also an opinion stating that zakat must be paid on the gross income. This opinion seems more suitable for owners of large investments that generate abundant profit, so that the owner lives in comfort.
Judging from the characteristics of investment, the capital is usually fixed and unaffected by production output. Thus, zakat investasi is closer to agricultural zakat, that is, equivalent to the value of 520 kg of rice per harvest.
If the price of 1 (one) kg of rice is Rp. 2,500, then 520 kg x Rp. 2,500 comes to Rp. 1,300,000. This opinion is followed by modern scholars such as Yusuf al-Qardhawi, Muhammad Abu Zahrah, Abdul Wahab Khallaf, and Abdurrahman Hasan.
Thus zakat investasi is paid when income is generated, while the capital is not subject to zakat. The rate of zakat paid is 5% or 10%, broken down as 5% for net income and 10% for gross income.
As for the nisab for zakat investasi, it follows the nisab for agricultural zakat. Scholars hold that the nisab for zakat investasi is the total net income over a year, even though that income arrives at various times.
If the total net income after deducting operating costs exceeds Rp. 1,300,000, then zakat must be paid on it.
Scholars draw an analogy between zakat investasi and agricultural zakat, that is, between 5% and 10%. Example: Pak Haji Zaenal has a row of 8 rental units in the Ciganjur area. The rent for each unit is Rp. 150,000. So each month he receives total rental income of 8 x Rp. 150,000 = Rp. 1,200,000.
However this is gross income. Meanwhile Pak Haji Zaenal's livelihood depends entirely on this rental income. He is responsible for supporting his family, whose basic needs average Rp. 1,000,000 per month. So what remains from the income is only Rp. 200,000.
If collected over a year, this comes to Rp. 2,400,000 from his net income. This figure has already exceeded the nisab for zakat investasi, which amounts to Rp. 1,300,000.
Therefore the zakat that must be paid is 5% of net income. So the amount of zakat he pays is, from each month's net income, 5% x Rp. 200,000 = Rp. 20,000.
This amount does not feel burdensome for someone like Haji Zaenal, who is not among wealthy investors.
Another example: PT. Riska Prima has a fleet of 1,000 taxis. The net takings per taxi, after deducting maintenance costs and other expenses, is Rp. 100,000 per day. Half of the fleet is still under credit debt. So the takings for those 500 vehicles are used to pay off instalments.
So in one day the net income is Rp. 100,000,000 minus Rp. 50,000,000 = Rp. 50,000,000.
The zakat that must be paid is 5% x Rp. 50,000,000 = Rp. 2,500,000 per day. Over a year, PT Riska Prima would accumulate zakat funds of 365 x Rp. 2,500,000 = Rp. 912,500,000.
This considerable amount is certainly very meaningful for alleviating poverty among Muslims. If all taxi companies owned by Muslims applied zakat in their businesses, many things could be accomplished.
As for the timing of payment, it is based on the differing calculations of the nisab among scholars, so the timing of payment also differs. If one follows the first opinion, then zakat is paid upon receiving the income.
And if one follows the second opinion, then zakat is paid once a year, or haul, that is, a year counted according to the Hijri system.
Scholars draw an analogy between zakat investasi and agricultural zakat, that is, between 5% and 10%. As for the method of paying the zakat, it is that if the company issuing the shares has already fulfilled the zakat obligation on behalf of the shareholders.
But if it has not, then the owner must pay zakat according to the purpose for which they hold the shares. As mentioned above, the purpose of this investment is to generate income or for trading purposes.
That is, investment in the form of shares held with the purpose of growing wealth and providing income, also known as long-term investment.
This investment can fall into the category of fixed assets and current assets, valued at the lower of the purchase price (book value) or the market price, and a provision must be set aside for a decline in share price if the market price is lower than the book value.
Aside from the valuation and Shariah ruling explained above, there is another point of view as follows.
If the shareholder can determine the value of each share from the zakat assets of the company issuing them, then they must pay zakat of 2.5%. If it is not known, then they must combine the income generated from those shares with other wealth subject to zakat, then pay zakat of 2.5%.
Note: The calculation for paying zakat is based on the market price, so that funds allocated for a decline in bond prices are not taken from the assets that must be zakated.
That is, investment in the form of shares purchased for the purpose of being traded or resold in order to generate profit.
Shares of this kind are valued at the lower of the book price or the market price, with funds set aside if the market price is lower than the book price.
Valuation and Shariah ruling: this traded share investment is valued at the market price once the haul arrives, and combined with other wealth subject to zakat. An example calculation of this zakat investasi can be seen in the following table:
| WEALTH SUBJECT TO ZAKAT | AMOUNT |
| Shares | IDR2,500,000 |
| Cheque | IDR2,500,000 |
| Bonds | IDR500,000 |
| Investment Certificate | IDR1,500,000 |
| Deposit | IDR2,500,000 |
| Account | IDR500,000 |
| Grand Total | IDR10,000,000 |
| LIABILITIES TO BE PAID | |
| Debt | IDR1,500,000 |
| Rights of Others | IDR500,000 |
| Grand Total | IDR2,000,000 |
| Zakat Base | IDR8,000,000 |
The nisab rate is equivalent to the value of 85 grams of gold. If the price of each gram of gold is Rp. 50,000, then the nisab is Rp. 4,250,000. Thus, the zakat base has reached the nisab and zakat must be calculated on it. The rate of zakat that must be paid is: Rp. 8,000,000 x 2.5% = Rp. 200,000
The view of those who hold a narrow view on wealth subject to zakat is as follows:
This narrow view of what wealth is subject to zakat is in fact an old view already known since the time of the salaf, upheld and defended by the prominent leader of the Zahiri school, Ibnu Hazm, and in this modern era supported by Syaukani and Sadik Hasan Khan, to the point of holding that trade goods and fresh fruits are not subject to zakat.
Those who hold a broad view of what wealth is subject to zakat require zakat on factories, buildings, and other things as mentioned above.
They are scholars of the Maliki and Hanbali schools, the Hadawiyah scholars of the Zaidiah school, and also some scholars of this era, such as the prominent scholars Abu Zahra, Khalaf, and Abdur Rahman Hasan. This broad view is based on the following reasons:
Regarding their opinion that zakat may not be levied on anything other than what the Messenger levied zakat on. That is, the absence of a text from the Prophet saw requiring zakat to be collected from a certain kind of wealth does not mean that zakat is not obligatory on it, because the Prophet would naturally only have addressed the types of wealth found in Arab society at that time, namely camels and goats regarding livestock, wheat, corn, barley, dates, and grapes regarding crops and fruits, and silver coins regarding money.
In addition, Islamic scholars have required zakat on other kinds of wealth for which there is indeed no text, based on analogy to the kinds of wealth mentioned above, adhering to the general principles of those texts, and in order to achieve the clear purpose behind zakat being made obligatory:
Among the reasons used is the opinion of Syafi'i, which at its basis may be a hadith we do not yet know of, or an analogy that gold is in fact stored money and served as a medium of exchange in many countries before and after Islam.
That Umar ordered the collection of zakat on horses, after he learned that horses had become very highly valued.
Ahmad required zakat on honey and also required zakat on minerals, based on analogy with gold and silver and the general wording of the verse, "Every yield We bring forth from the earth."
Zuhri, Hasan, and Abu Yusuf required zakat on marine products such as pearls, amber, and the like, at a rate of 20%, based on analogy with buried treasure and minerals.
All valid schools incorporate analogy into zakat on various matters. For example, Syafi'i drew an analogy between dates, grapes, wheat, and barley regarding zakat fitrah, mentioned in the hadith as the staple food of a country or a person.
Regarding their opinion that Islamic fiqh scholars, across various eras and origins, were never reported to hold that zakat investasi is obligatory, the answer is that some kinds of wealth that undergo this sort of growth were not evenly known across all countries.
Even so, there have already been several fatwas from fiqh scholars stating that among these kinds of wealth, zakat is obligatory, whether on the proceeds of investment or of services.
Regarding the fatwa of fiqh scholars that a house, work equipment, and the like are exempt from the zakat obligation, this fatwa is indeed entirely correct.
But everything exempted by scholars from the zakat obligation is not the same as the items we know today. A residential home, for example, is not the same as skyscraper buildings that are invested in, and work equipment such as an axe, a saw, and so on.
That is why the author of al-Hidaya put forward the reason why such items are not subject to zakat, namely that if such items are needed as basic necessities and do not undergo growth.
Based on the above reasoning, fiqh scholars agree that a house used by its owner as their own residence is not subject to zakat. That is the ease and fairness brought by Islam.
Ibnu Akil put forward his opinion as a way out of what was raised by Imam Ahmad regarding zakat on leased jewellery. "Regarding zakat on leased goods, which has a basis that it is subject to zakat, it is specifically applied as an obligation on immovable property set aside for lease, and on all goods that are leased and intended for lease.
The specific mention of jewellery is because jewellery is, in principle, not subject to zakat. Once it is established that being set aside for lease gives rise to a zakat obligation on something that was previously not subject to zakat, then all items that were previously not obligatory will become subject to zakat.
Imam Ahmad is reported to have held the opinion, regarding a person who leases out their house and receives the rent, that this person pays zakat when they make use of that rental income. This is according to al-Mughni.
Sheikh Zaruk, in his marginal notes on ar-Risalah, states that there is a difference of opinion on zakat investasi, covering:
Zakat is collected from the capital itself, that is, from the building or factory. But according to another opinion, zakat is collected from the income or proceeds, at 2.5%, without requiring a full year.
The most recent opinion agrees with the view that zakat is collected from profit, but disagrees on the amount that must be zakated, because according to them the amount of zakat is 10% or 5%, based on analogy with agricultural land.
Those who hold this view are recent scholars such as Abu Zahra, Abd Wahab Khalaf, and Abd Rahman Hasan, in their lectures in Damascus in 1952.
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