Zakat on Committee (BC)

The calculator below opens with the Committee, Bank and Debts tiles. Enter what you have paid in so far, your other savings, and, if you have already received the payout, the instalments you still owe.

What is a committee?

A committee, also called BC or bisi, is a rotating savings group common in Pakistan and India. Each member pays a fixed instalment every month, and each month one member, picked by turn or by draw, receives the whole pot. With 12 members paying Rs 10,000 a month, each member receives Rs 1,20,000 once during the year and pays in Rs 1,20,000 over the twelve months. Nobody earns interest; the committee is simply a way to save and to get a lump sum earlier or later.

For zakat, what matters is where you stand on your own zakat date: have you received your payout yet or not?

Before you receive the payout

Every instalment you have paid in is still your money. It is held by the organiser and will come back to you when your turn comes, so it is a debt owed to you by people who are expected to pay. Count the full amount you have paid in so far, together with your cash, bank balances and gold.

• Do not count the instalments you have not paid yet; that money is still in your bank account or wallet and is counted there.
• Do not count the full Rs 1,20,000 pot you will receive later; only what you have paid in.

The Pakistan zakat calculator applies this same rule: “the amount you have paid in so far is your money and is zakatable”. On our methodology page we explain that this is our reading of the general rule on money owed to you; we do not cite a specific fatwa on committees.

After you receive the payout

Once you have the pot, two things change:

1. Whatever is left of the payout on your zakat date is cash or savings like any other and is counted. If you spent it on a wedding, a car or a house, what was spent is gone and is not counted.
2. The instalments you still have to pay are now a debt you owe to the other members. Whether you subtract them depends on your madhab, as set out below.

Worked example: a Rs 10,000 x 12 committee

Hina in Lahore is in a 12-member committee of Rs 10,000 a month. Her zakat date falls after the seventh instalment. She also has Rs 6,00,000 in her savings account. Assume her total is above the nisab, which today is about Rs 2,96,950 (silver).

Case A: her turn has not come yet. She has paid 7 x Rs 10,000 = Rs 70,000. Her zakatable wealth is Rs 6,00,000 + Rs 70,000 = Rs 6,70,000, and zakat is 2.5% = Rs 16,750 in the Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali and Ahl-e-Hadith calculations, which use the silver nisab (or the lower of the two) for cash. The Shafi’i calculation uses the gold nisab, about Rs 31,55,882 today, so at Rs 6,70,000 nothing is due unless your Shafi’i scholar uses the silver nisab. The Shia view is below.

Case B: she received Rs 1,20,000 in month four. She spent Rs 20,000 of it, so Rs 1,00,000 is left. She still owes 5 x Rs 10,000 = Rs 50,000 in instalments.

• Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali: Rs 6,00,000 + Rs 1,00,000 – Rs 50,000 = Rs 6,50,000. Zakat is Rs 16,250.
• Ahl-e-Hadith: the debt is not subtracted, so Rs 7,00,000 is counted. Zakat is Rs 17,500.
• Shafi’i: the debt is not subtracted either, but Rs 7,00,000 is below the gold nisab the Shafi’i calculation uses, so nothing is due (Rs 17,500 only if your scholar uses the silver nisab).

Enter the Rs 70,000 (Case A) in the Committee tile, or enter the Rs 1,00,000 left over in the Bank or Cash tile and the Rs 50,000 still owed in the Debts tile (Case B). The calculator applies the debt rule of the madhab you choose.

What does each madhab say about committee money?

• Hanafi: instalments paid in are money owed to you; zakat is due on them every year, though you may pay it when you receive the money. After the payout, remaining instalments are a debt; contemporary Hanafi scholars subtract debts due in the coming year, which for a one-year committee is all of them. See the Hanafi calculator.
• Shafi’i: money owed to you that you are sure to get back is counted every year. In the relied-upon position debts do not reduce zakat, so the instalments you still owe are not subtracted.
• Maliki: debts are subtracted from cash and trade goods. For a cash loan you gave, Maliki scholars pay its zakat once, for one year, when it is repaid. Whether a committee contribution is treated like such a loan is a question to ask your scholar; many people simply count it each year.
• Hanbali: zakat on money owed to you by someone who can and will pay is due for every year, but you may pay it when you receive it. Debts are subtracted.
• Ahl-e-Hadith: following the Saudi Permanent Committee, as our calculator does, the money you paid in is counted and debts are not subtracted. A debt that is due now can be paid off before your zakat date, which reduces your cash.
• Shia (Ayatollah Sistani): there is no zakat on cash or committee money. Khums (20%) may be due on savings left from the year’s income, and how a committee is treated for khums is a question for your marja’s office. Use the khums calculator.

Common questions people ask

• “The organiser holds the money, so who pays?” Each member pays on their own share. The organiser does not pay zakat on other members’ instalments, because that money is not theirs.
• “My committee runs across two zakat dates.” Look at your position on each date separately: what you had paid in, or what was left of the payout and what you still owed.
• “Does the bank deduct zakat on a committee?” No. The 1 Ramadan bank deduction only touches savings accounts (see bank zakat deduction). You pay zakat on committee money yourself.

For everything else you own, use the Pakistan zakat calculator. To find your zakat date, use the zakat date calculator.

This is not a fatwa. If your situation is unusual, ask a qualified scholar.

Frequently asked questions