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# How to Calculate Zakat in 2026: Nisab, Gold, Pensions and Shares, With Worked Examples
- URL: https://wusul.io/insights/how-to-calculate-zakat/
- Published: 2026-10-11T10:08:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T10:14:45.000Z
- Description: Zakat is 2.5% of wealth held for a lunar year above the nisab. The method step by step, where scholars differ, and two worked examples for the UK and the US.
- Author: Yomna El-Saeed
- Tags: Giving

Listen10 min · British voice

Zakat is simple to state and surprisingly hard to work out. It is 2.5% of the wealth you have held for a lunar year, once that wealth is at or above the nisab. The difficulty is everything modern life adds: pensions you cannot touch yet, shares inside an ISA or a 401(k), gold jewellery you wear, a mortgage that runs for twenty more years.

Every Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of people search for help. UK searches for "zakat calculator" averaged 14,800 a month over the past year, and reached 74,000 in March 2026, during the last ten nights. In the US they reached 49,500\. That is why we built the [Wusul zakat calculator](https://wusul.io/zakat-calculator/), and this guide explains the method behind it, step by step, with two worked examples.

One note before we start: where scholars differ, we show the common positions and you choose. This is a guide to the arithmetic, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.

## The nisab today

The nisab is the minimum wealth on which zakat is due. It is set by the value of 612.36 grams of silver or 87.48 grams of gold, so it moves with metal prices. On 11 October 2026 it stood at:

| Currency       | Silver nisab | Gold nisab |
| -------------- | ------------ | ---------- |
| United Kingdom | £907         | £8,920     |
| United States  | $1,200       | $11,800    |
| Euro           | €1,071       | €10,531    |
| Canada         | C$1,710      | C$16,816   |

The gold nisab is now almost ten times the silver one. Which one you use decides whether zakat is due at all for many households with modest savings. Many UK and US zakat bodies use silver because it is lower, so more people pay and more reaches those in need; others use gold. The calculator shows [today's nisab](https://wusul.io/zakat-calculator/#nisab-today) in eight currencies, updated daily.

## How to calculate zakat in five steps

1. **Fix your zakat date.** Zakat is due once a lunar year has passed on wealth at or above the nisab. Many people use a date in Ramadan so it is easy to remember. If you work to the Gregorian year instead, many scholars use 2.577% rather than 2.5%, to account for the extra eleven days.
2. **Count what you own on that date.** Cash, bank and savings accounts, gold and silver, shares and funds, crypto, business stock and business cash, and money you are owed and expect to get back.
3. **Take off what you must pay.** Debts and bills due now. For a mortgage or other long-term loan, a common view, followed by the National Zakat Foundation, is to deduct only the capital repayments due in the next 12 months, not the whole balance, and not interest.
4. **Compare with the nisab.** If what remains is at or above the nisab, zakat is due on all of it.
5. **Pay 2.5%** to the eight categories of recipients named in the Quran (9:60): the poor, the needy, those who administer zakat, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing those in bondage, those in debt, in the cause of God, and the stranded traveller.

Your home, your car, and property you live in or rent out are not counted. Rent you have received and saved is counted as part of your savings.

## The four questions where scholars differ

### 1\. Gold and silver jewellery you wear

The Hanafi school counts gold and silver jewellery. The Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools generally exempt jewellery worn for personal use. Gold is valued by its pure gold content: 22 carat is 22/24 pure, 18 carat is 18/24, and so on. At 11 October 2026 prices, a gram of pure gold was worth about £102.

### 2\. Pensions

In the UK, the National Zakat Foundation (NZF) counts the zakatable part of a workplace or private pension pot every year, even before you can access it, using proportions it gives by fund type: 50% for a mixed, default or lifestyle fund, 27% for a fund mostly in shares, 26% for a Shariah fund, 15% for property, 100% for bonds, gilts or cash, and 25% if you do not know. NZF allows you to delay paying that part until the pension pays out. Final-salary pensions are generally not counted.

In the US, AMJA counts a 401(k) or IRA at the vested balance you could withdraw today, after income tax and the 10% early-withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½. The Zakat Foundation of America does not count accounts you cannot freely access. If you can withdraw without penalty, many count the full value.

### 3\. Shares and investments

If you trade shares, zakat is generally due on their full current value. For long-term holdings, NZF counts the companies' zakatable assets or, when those are not known, 25% of the value as a proxy. 2.5% of 25% is 0.625% of the holding. A cash ISA is simply savings and is counted in full.

### 4\. Debts

Scholars differ on how much debt to deduct. The common view above (the next 12 months of capital repayments) keeps a long mortgage from wiping out zakat on substantial savings, which is the outcome most people intuitively expect.

## Worked example: a UK household

On their zakat date, a UK household has:

| Item                                                                 | Value   | Counted              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | -------------------- |
| Bank and savings accounts                                            | £12,000 | £12,000              |
| 40 grams of 22 carat gold jewellery, worn                            | £3,739  | £3,739 (Hanafi view) |
| Stocks and shares ISA, held long term                                | £10,000 | £2,500 (25% proxy)   |
| Workplace pension in a default fund                                  | £30,000 | £15,000 (NZF, 50%)   |
| Mortgage capital due in the next 12 months, plus a card bill due now | £5,400  | minus £5,400         |
| **Zakatable wealth**                                                 |         | **£27,839**          |

£27,839 is well above both the silver nisab (£907) and the gold nisab (£8,920), so zakat is due: **2.5% of £27,839 is £696**. Of that, £375 relates to the pension, which NZF allows them to pay when the pension pays out. If they follow the view that worn jewellery is exempt, their zakatable wealth is £24,100 and zakat is £602.50.

If they give through a UK charity that accepts Gift Aid on zakat, as NZF does, and they tick Gift Aid and pay enough UK income or capital gains tax, the charity can claim another 25p from HMRC for every £1: £174 on top of £696, at no cost to them. Their zakat is still the £696 they give; the Gift Aid is extra.

## Worked example: a US household

| Item                                          | Value   | Counted                                       |
| --------------------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Checking and savings                          | $15,000 | $15,000                                       |
| 401(k), fully vested, under 59½, 22% tax rate | $40,000 | $27,200 (AMJA: after 22% tax and 10% penalty) |
| Shares held for trading                       | $5,000  | $5,000 (full value)                           |
| Bills due now                                 | $2,000  | minus $2,000                                  |
| **Zakatable wealth**                          |         | **$45,200**                                   |

Zakat is **2.5% of $45,200, or $1,130**. Under the Zakat Foundation of America's view, which does not count the 401(k) while it cannot be freely accessed, zakatable wealth is $18,000 and zakat is $450\. The difference between the two views is larger than many people expect, which is why the calculator makes you choose rather than choosing for you.

Tax helps here too. From 2026, US donors who take the standard deduction can still deduct cash gifts to a public charity of up to $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly), so $1,000 of this household's $1,130 could be deducted. Donor-advised funds and private foundations do not qualify. This is general information, not tax advice.

## Where should your zakat go?

Once you know the amount, the next question is where to give it. The calculator draws a shortlist from our [Islamic Charity Index](https://wusul.io/islamic-charity-index/) of every Islamic charity registered in England and Wales and the US, filtered by the cause you care about, and links to each charity's own zakat page and its regulator record. We wrote about what that index shows in [the largest Islamic charities in the UK and US](https://wusul.io/insights/largest-islamic-charities-uk-us/). Wusul is not a charity and does not collect donations; the shortlist is ranked by size, which is not an endorsement or a judgement on zakat eligibility.

## Prefer to talk it through? Meet Noor

Many people find a form intimidating, especially when half the questions start with "it depends". So the calculator has Noor, an AI assistant that asks a few short questions, in English or Arabic, and fills the calculator in as you go. You can type, or record a voice note and say everything at once ("I have about twelve thousand in savings, some gold, and a pension at work"); Noor reads back what it heard so you can confirm before anything is counted.

Noor is an assistant, not a scholar, and it can make mistakes. It explains the positions; it does not issue rulings. If you prefer the form, your figures stay on your own device. With a free Wusul account you can keep a printable Zakat Statement of what you counted and the methods you chose, with reminders for your next zakat date and for Ramadan.

[**Work out your zakat now**](https://wusul.io/zakat-calculator/), with today's nisab.

## Frequently asked questions

### How is zakat calculated?

Add up the zakatable wealth you have held for a lunar year (cash, savings, gold, silver, investments, business stock and money owed to you), subtract debts you must pay now, and if the total is at or above the nisab, pay 2.5% of it. On the Gregorian year, many scholars use 2.577%.

### What is the nisab in 2026?

On 11 October 2026 the nisab was £907 ($1,200) on the silver standard of 612.36 grams, or £8,920 ($11,800) on the gold standard of 87.48 grams. It changes with metal prices, so check it on your zakat date.

### Do I pay zakat on my pension?

Scholars differ. In the UK, the National Zakat Foundation counts the zakatable part of a pension pot each year by fund type and allows you to delay paying until it pays out. In the US, AMJA counts a 401(k) or IRA at what you could withdraw today after tax and penalty, while the Zakat Foundation of America does not count accounts you cannot freely access.

### How much zakat do I pay on gold?

2.5% of the value of the pure gold you own, if your total zakatable wealth is at or above the nisab. 50 grams of 22 carat gold contains about 45.8 grams of pure gold, worth about £4,670 at 11 October 2026 prices, so the zakat on it would be about £117\. Scholars differ on jewellery you wear.

### Can I add Gift Aid to my zakat?

In the UK, the National Zakat Foundation accepts Gift Aid on zakat, because it is your own tax being reclaimed. Your zakat is what you give; the 25p per £1 that the charity claims is extra.

## Sources

- National Zakat Foundation, guidance on pensions, investments and debts
- Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA), guidance on retirement accounts
- Zakat Foundation of America, guidance on restricted accounts
- Gold and silver prices from gold-api.com; exchange rates from Exchange Rate API, 11 October 2026
- Google Ads search volume data via DataForSEO, UK and US, September 2025 to August 2026

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### Related reading

- [Gen Z Muslim Donors: What Charities Need to Know](https://wusul.io/insights/gen-z-muslim-donors/)
- [Digital Maturity for Islamic Charities: The Four Stages, and How to Move Up](https://wusul.io/insights/digital-maturity-islamic-charities/)
- [Donor Retention for Muslim Charities: What the First Gift Tells You](https://wusul.io/insights/donor-retention-muslim-charities/)