Zakat on RSUs
Two legitimate ways to calculate zakat on vested stock — shown side by side, with the working and the sources, so you choose knowingly instead of trusting a black box. Runs entirely in your browser; your numbers never leave this page.
## your_shares
Only if your vested count above still includes them. Withheld shares never become yours, so they aren't zakatable.
Both methods stay visible either way — this only highlights the one scholars match to your intention. Unsure? The full-market-value figure is the cautious choice.
A · Full market value
2.5% of what the shares are worth today — the ruling for shares held to sell, and the safe option for everyone. NZF · Fiqh Council of North America
—
2.5% of full market value
show the work
B · Net-current-assets proxy
For long-term holdings: zakat only on the company's zakatable assets, estimated at 25% of market value. NZF's proxy research · Joe Bradford
—
2.5% of a 25% zakatable base — 0.625% effectively
show the work
Your whole portfolio, every opinion cited
Building a privacy-first zakat tool for your whole portfolio — 401k, crypto, gold, stocks — with every opinion cited and nothing connected to your bank.
No spam, no sharing your address — one email when it's ready.
There is no single "the" answer for zakat on shares — there are reasoned positions, and an honest calculator shows them rather than silently picking one.
Method A — 2.5% of market value
Shares bought or held with the intention to sell are trade goods, zakatable at 2.5% of their full current market value. This is NZF's ruling for trading positions and the Fiqh Council of North America's treatment for stock held short-term. It's also the cautious default when you're unsure: it can only overshoot, and overshooting is charity.
Method B — the net-current-assets proxy
For genuinely long-term holdings, many scholars hold that zakat falls only on your share of the company's zakatable assets — roughly its cash, receivables and inventory, not buildings or brand. This approach traces to Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Fiqh az-Zakat and is codified in AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard No. 35, which allows estimating the zakatable portion when exact balance-sheet data isn't practical. NZF reviewed FTSE 100 balance sheets and set its proxy at 25% of market value (two-thirds of the index fell below that line), replacing its older 40% figure. Joe Bradford reaches the same shape with a deliberately conservative 30%, and the Fiqh Council of North America illustrates with ~30% book value of zakatable assets. AMJA takes a narrower view still — zakat on the accrued profit of long-term holdings. We show NZF's 25% because it's the published, researched proxy a major zakat charity actually uses; if you prefer Bradford's 30%, multiply our Method B figure by 1.2.
Do I pay zakat on unvested RSUs?
No. Until RSUs vest they are a conditional promise from your employer, not property you own — and zakat requires complete ownership (milk al-tamm). NZF puts it plainly: "Until the shares vest, they remain a promise, and no zakat is due." Once they vest and the shares are transferred to you, they enter your zakat calculation. (AMJA frames the trigger slightly differently — when you are actually able to sell — but for typical public-company RSUs that coincides with vesting.)
Is zakat due on RSUs withheld for taxes?
No zakat is due on shares withheld to cover taxes, because they never become your property — you only ever own the net shares delivered to you. This follows from the same ownership principle that excludes unvested RSUs; SeekersGuidance's answer on RSUs likewise treats tax-withheld shares as outside your purification obligations. Enter the withheld count in the calculator and it works on the net.
Which method should I use — full market value or the 25% proxy?
It depends on your intention. If you hold the shares to sell (trading), the standard ruling is 2.5% of full current market value. If you hold them as a long-term investment, zakat is due only on your share of the company's zakatable (net current) assets; when you can't analyze the balance sheet, NZF's researched proxy is 25% of market value, so 0.625% effectively. Joe Bradford uses a deliberately conservative 30% for the same idea, and AMJA holds that long-term holders owe zakat on realized profit instead. When in doubt, the full-market-value figure is always the cautious, safe choice.
Do I pay zakat every year I hold the shares?
Yes. Zakat recurs every lunar year (hawl) in which your total zakatable wealth stays at or above the nisab. AMJA's guidance on stocks says explicitly that zakat is paid "every fiscal lunar year." So vested RSUs you keep holding re-enter your calculation each year at their then-current value.
What is the nisab and does it apply here?
The nisab is the minimum wealth at which zakat becomes due — the value of 87.48g of gold or 612.36g of silver (85g / 595g per another opinion), per NZF. It applies to your total zakatable wealth combined (cash, gold, investments, RSUs), not to the RSUs alone. Most people with vested RSUs are comfortably above nisab.
Do I owe zakat on vested shares I haven't sold yet?
Yes — vested shares are owned wealth whether or not you've sold them. Which method applies depends on your intent for holding them (see above). Selling isn't what triggers zakat; ownership plus the passage of the lunar year is.
Also from this workshop: the Qadha (missed prayer) calculator — with menstruation days correctly excluded. Or see all tools.