I have sold my (inherited) agriculture land in the month of July 2012. The sale amount has been credited to my bank account on 17-07-2012. My query is whether zakat applicable on this amount on 1st of Ramdan or not. If yes, what percentage would be applicable.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
In principle, the proceeds from a land which is sold is zakatable.[1]
The proceeds from the sale of the land in question will become zakatable as soon as the money enters your ownership.
To calculate the zakat on this amount, you will add these proceeds to your nett savings over the previous year.
Thereafter, if the resulting nett savings are equal or more than the nisāb of zakāt, then 2.5% of the total nett savings will be calculated and paid off as Zakāt.[2]
Kindly refer to the following link for more details on Zakāt calculation:
http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/17114
And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Faisal bin Abdul Hameed,
Montréal, Canada
Checked and Concurred by,
Maulana Ismail Desai
[1] ( الزكاة واجبة في عروض التجارة كائنة ما كانت ) أي سواء كانت من جنس ما تجب فيه الزكاة كالسوائم أو من غيره كالثياب والحمير .( الجوهرة النيرة (1/ 478))
[2] ((والمستفاد) ولو بهبة أو إرث (وسط الحول يضم إلى نصاب من جنسه) فيزكيه بحول الأصل)… أدخل فيه المفاد بشراء أو ميراث أو وصية وما كان حاصلا من الأصل كالأولاد والربح كما في النهر (الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (2/ 288))