Zakat on Investments in Saudi Arabia: How to Calculate It

For a company in Saudi Arabia, zakat is a filing: ZATCA assesses it and collects it. For an individual with a personal portfolio, it is something else. ZATCA’s Implementing Regulations for Zakat Collection, issued by Ministerial Decision 1007 on 19/08/1445H (29 February 2024), apply to companies and establishments, and to individuals only where they carry on a licensed business activity. Zakat on your own cash, shares, funds and sukuk is an obligation you assess and pay yourself.

That makes the calculation your responsibility, and it is where most of the judgement sits. The rate is fixed. The hard part is deciding which value of each holding goes into the base. An Arabic version of this guide is also available.

The rules that do not change

• Rate: 2.5% of net zakatable wealth.
• Period: wealth held for a full lunar (Hijri) year, the hawl. If you prefer to calculate on a Gregorian year, the equivalent rate is about 2.578%, the same adjustment ZATCA’s regulations apply to companies: 2.5% divided by the days in the Hijri year, multiplied by the days in your year.
• Threshold: zakat is due only once net zakatable wealth reaches the nisab, conventionally the value of 85 grams of gold at the price on your zakat date.
• Date: choose a fixed zakat date and use it every year. Many families tie it to a date in Ramadan, which makes it easy to remember.

Holding by holding

Cash, current and savings accounts

Included in full at the balance on your zakat date.

Shares and funds held to trade

If you buy shares or fund units intending to sell them for a profit, they are treated as trade goods. Zakat is due on their market value on your zakat date. This is the position of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (Resolution 28, Jeddah, 1988) and of the late Sheikh Ibn Baz, whose fatwa values trading shares at their price when the year completes.

Shares held long term

For shares bought to hold for income and growth, the methods differ, and this is where most of the variation between calculations comes from.

1. Zakatable assets per share. You include the portion of each share that represents the company’s zakatable assets: its cash, receivables and inventory, net of current liabilities. Some investors use a fixed percentage of market value as an estimate; the worksheet below lets you enter the share you use.
2. Returns only. Where the zakatable portion cannot be determined, the Fiqh Academy (Resolution 121, 2001) holds that zakat is due on the returns, the dividends, rather than on the value of the shares. Sheikh Ibn Baz’s fatwa likewise directs zakat on the profits of shares held for investment.
3. Zakat paid by the company. Under ZATCA’s regulations, Saudi-listed companies pay zakat at company level on the shares held by their Saudi and GCC shareholders. Many scholars, following the Fiqh Academy’s view that a company pays zakat on its shares as an individual would on their wealth, treat that as covering long-term shareholders. ZATCA itself does not rule on individual portfolios, so this is a question for your scholar rather than for the tax authority.

Foreign shares held through an international broker are not covered by Saudi company-level zakat, so the third method does not apply to them.

Sukuk and fixed-income funds

Generally included at market value. A sukuk held to maturity is still wealth you own and can sell.

Investment funds held long term

ZATCA’s regulations allow a fund to calculate and pay zakat at fund level. Ask the fund manager whether the fund does so; if it does, many investors treat their long-term units as covered. If not, apply the same method you use for long-term shares.

Money owed to you, and your own debts

Loans you have made and expect to be repaid are usually included. Many scholars allow debts you owe and must pay within the coming year to be deducted from the base.

Run your own figures

The worksheet below follows the structure above. Enter long-term holdings at market value and the percentage you treat as zakatable under the method you follow: for example 0% if you rely on company-level zakat, or your estimate of zakatable assets per share. Enter the gold price to test the nisab.

With the default figures, the base is SAR 120,000 cash plus SAR 50,000 of trading shares, SAR 120,000 of long-term holdings (30% of SAR 400,000), and SAR 100,000 of sukuk, less SAR 20,000 of debts due: SAR 370,000, and zakat of SAR 9,250.

Paying through Zakaty

ZATCA’s Zakaty platform and app let individuals calculate and pay zakat voluntarily. It covers cash, gold and silver, shares and funds, pulling share and fund prices from the Saudi Exchange, and directs payments to Social Security beneficiaries registered with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. ZATCA reported in March 2026 that more than SAR 932 million had been directed to beneficiaries through the service.

Zakat belongs in the plan

Zakat is a known annual outflow, so a financial plan should treat it as one rather than as a surprise in Ramadan.

• Hold the cash for it. Keep the expected amount in liquid form ahead of your zakat date, so paying it never forces a sale at a bad moment.
• Keep records. A one-page record each year of your date, your method and your figures makes the next year’s calculation quicker and consistent.
• Account for it in long-term projections. 2.5% a year on a growing portfolio is a material number over a retirement. Our guide to retirement planning beyond GOSI builds it in.

How Vault Saudi helps

Vault Saudi Limited Company is licensed by the Capital Market Authority for advisory activity (licence 25313-20). We are not a Sharia authority and we do not issue rulings. We do build zakat into your financial plan: we organise the holding-level figures your chosen method needs, set aside liquidity for the payment, and include it in your long-term projections. Your assets stay in your name with the institutions you choose.

See how financial planning works, or talk to an advisor.

This article is for information only and is not a fatwa or Sharia, tax or investment advice. Methods for calculating zakat on investments differ between scholars; consult a qualified scholar for a ruling on your circumstances. ZATCA references are to the Implementing Regulations for Zakat Collection 1445H (Ministerial Decision 1007, as amended by Decision 1248) and to ZATCA announcements of 1 March 2025 and 5 March 2026.