Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. How much is the Zakat of shares? كم هي زكاة الأسهم؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say: The majority of the scholars are of the opinion that shares are divided into two types for Zakat purposes, and this is linked to the state of the investor. If the owner of the shares is  a subscriber or an investor who wants to keep these shares and benefit from their yields; then if the companies pay Zakat like is the case in some countries like Saudi Arabia, the Zakat given by the companies will suffice. However if- as is the case in most joint-stock companies in the world- the companies do not pay Zakat, and leave that to the owner of the shares, then he has to pay the Zakat. He should do this based on the market value of the shares on the day on which the Zakat is due.   If the owner of the shares trades in them, like a person who buys and sells shares on a regular basis for profit, then his Zakat would be that of trade goods. This means that when the time for Zakat comes, the person should calculate the value of the shares that he has, and give out 2.5% of that in Zakat.