Zakatable Items

In an Islamic bank, zakatable items refer to a set of assets that constitute the overall (broader) zakah base (zakah receptacle). Zakatable items include cash and cash equivalents, receivables (net of doubtful debts), assets for trading (such as goods, real estate, financial papers, etc), and financing assets (murabaha, musharaka, salam, istisna’a, etc). Trading assets are typically valued in terms of their expected cash value at the time of zakah falling due. In order to calculate zakah base, specific liabilities are deducted from zakatable items (examples of such liabilities include rights of the holders of unrestricted investment accounts, minority rights, waqf rights, and so on).