Zakat Calculator for Canadian Investors
Zakat is 2.5% of your zakatable wealth held for a lunar year, above the nisab threshold. The part most calculators get wrong for Canadians: registered accounts. Your TFSA counts in full — but your RRSP is a genuine scholarly disagreement, with three established positions. This calculator handles TFSA, RRSP/RRIF, and FHSA, and shows you all three RRSP positions side by side so you can follow the one your scholarship supports.
Your zakatable wealth
Use market value, not what you paid. Zakat is on what you own today.
A TFSA is fully yours and accessible — it counts at full market value.
Immediate debts and the due portion of longer-term debts.
Defaults from spot prices on 2026-09-28 (gold ≈ C$16,231 · silver ≈ C$1,672). Prices move — check a current quote and update the figure.
Enter your holdings above.
Zakat = 2.5% × (zakatable wealth − debts), due when wealth meets nisab and a lunar year has passed. All math runs locally — nothing you type leaves your browser.
How it works
Zakat on wealth is 2.5% of your zakatable assets — cash, savings, and the market value of investments — held for one lunar year, provided the total reaches the nisab (the minimum threshold, defined as 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver). Debts you owe are deducted first. If your wealth is below nisab, no zakat is due.
The RRSP question — three scholarly positions
An RRSP is the hard case: the money is yours, but you can't touch it without paying tax (and possibly penalties) on withdrawal. Scholars who have ruled on modern retirement accounts split three ways:
- Position 1 — full market value. The account is your wealth; pay zakat on all of it each year. The most cautious route, and the simplest to compute.
- Position 2 — after-tax value. Deduct the tax you'll owe on withdrawal first, then pay zakat on the remainder. A $100,000 RRSP at a 40% expected tax rate means zakat on $60,000 instead of $100,000 — a $1,000/year difference at 2.5%. This is the position many Canadian zakat guides describe.
- Position 3 — on withdrawal. The funds aren't truly accessible, so no zakat is due until you withdraw; pay zakat on withdrawals as they come. Note: under this position you still owe zakat on the withdrawn amounts later — it defers, not cancels.
The calculator above lets you switch between all three instantly so you can see the difference and follow the position your scholarship supports. When in doubt, ask a qualified scholar — this page documents the positions; it doesn't pick one for you.
TFSA, FHSA, and non-registered accounts
- TFSA — straightforward: it's your money, fully accessible, tax-free. Count the full market value.
- Non-registered — count the full market value of stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. (Some scholars discuss adjusting for the haram portion already purified — purification and zakat are separate calculations; don't subtract one from the other without scholarly guidance.)
- FHSA — follows RRSP logic above, with one twist: a withdrawal for a qualifying first-home purchase is tax-free, in which case the after-tax position converges with full value.
- Employer pensions / group RRSPs — vested balances you control follow the RRSP positions; defined-benefit promises you can't access generally don't count until paid out. The details vary — worth its own conversation with a scholar.
FAQ
Gold or silver nisab — which do I use?
Scholars differ, and the two give very different thresholds (silver's is roughly a tenth of gold's). Using silver means more people pay zakat — many scholars recommend it as the more cautious, pro-recipient choice. The calculator defaults to gold; switch to silver if that's the position you follow. Either way, update the dollar figure to a current price.
Do I really owe zakat on my RRSP?
That's exactly the three-position disagreement above — there is no single consensus answer, which is why the calculator shows all three. What is agreed: money you can access and that exceeds nisab is zakatable. Pick the position your scholarship supports and be consistent year to year.
What about crypto?
Crypto you hold as an investment counts toward zakatable wealth at market value, like any investment. (Whether a given coin is halal to hold at all is a separate screening question.)
When do I pay?
Once a year, when a full lunar year has passed over wealth above nisab. Many Canadians pick Ramadan or align it with year-end for simplicity — the purification calculator pairs naturally with the same annual cleanup.
Where does the zakat go?
To the eight eligible categories of recipients (the poor, the needy, zakat administrators, and others). In Canada, organizations like Islamic Relief Canada, NZF Canada, and Muslim Hands Canada collect and distribute zakat — or you may give directly to eligible recipients you know.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted, stored, or tracked by this site.