Govt Officially Announces Zakat Nisab for 2021

The government of Pakistan has announced the Nisab of Zakat in Pakistan, as the Holy month of Ramadan approaches. It has fixed the Nisab of Zakat at Rs. 80,933 in Pakistan. Banks and financial institutions will deduct Zakat of 2.5 percent from amounts above the mentioned Nisab by the government on 1st of Ramadan from the savings accounts, profit-loss sharing accounts, and other similar accounts, according to a notification issued by the Administrator-General Zakat. The Zakat is applied to saving accounts and products maintained by banks, asset management companies, and other financial entities. Those customers who have submitted their Zakat exemption certificate will not see a deduction of any amount. Current accounts in banks are exempted from this deduction. This year, the minimum amount set on account of Nisab is higher than the previous year, which was Rs. 46,329, due to the increase in prices of silver in the current year. The significant increase in fixed amounts was mainly due to higher prices of gold and silver recorded last year. Zakat applies on the amount of saving for a holding period of one year, which is equal to or above the value of 7.5 tola Gold and 52.5 tola Silver. The benchmark or Nisab is set against the value of the commodity, which has a lower value in price, that is, silver. Currently, the price of one tola silver stands at Rs. 1,360. The Nisab of Zakat is set at the average yearly value of the valuable metal.