The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No. 1486- The beginning of the khums year for a person is the day of his first income. That is, if a person starts a trade, business, industry, farming, etc., the first time he makes earnings will be the beginning of his khums year. One cannot deliberately move it up or behind. However, in case he wishes to move the beginning of his khums year up, he should calculate and pay the khums of his property sooner than the designated time; as a result, from then on, that date will become the beginning of his khums year.

Issue No. 1487- One can pay the khums of whatever he earns during a year when he receives it, and it is also permissible to postpone payment of khums until the end of the year in order to subtract the possible expenses from it.

Issue No. 1488- One can adopt either the solar or the lunar year as their khums year.

Issue No. 1494- Khums on trees that are grown for the use of their wood, should be paid when it is time to sell their wood, even if one may not want to sell them. However, if it is not time for selling them, there is no khums on them, even though many years may pass.

Issue No. 1495- If a person has a number of sources of income, for example, he has farming, industry and labour income, he should calculate the benefits of all these at the end of the khums year, and if it exceeds his annual expenditure, he should pay khums from the surplus.

Issue No. 1497- No khums is due on the costs of living, i.e., what a person spends out of the income on food, clothing, purchase of house, household accessories, marriage, dowry of a girl, obligatory or recommended Zīyārat [pilgrimage], and the expenses which one bears as a result of giving gifts and having guests, etc., provided that he has not been excessive. Therefore, the surplus left to the end of khums year is subject to khums. Furthermore, when something is counted as a part of the annual expenses (e.g., a house, carpet, etc.) and if it is sold later, khums is not due on its price especially when it is going to be replaced by homogenous commodity.

Issue No. 1499- If a person needs to have his own house, khums is not due on what he spends on purchasing the house. In case however, his annual income does not suffice for purchasing a house and he has to save money for a couple of years to be able to buy a house, he should pay the khums of the money on which a year has passed. Nevertheless, if for example, he buys the land for the house in the first year and the building materials in the second year and pays for construction of the house in the third year, none of them is subject to khums.

Issue No. 1500- It is a common practice among many families to prepare the dowry of their daughters gradually; in such a case, it is obligatory to pay khums on the dowry if a year passes on it. However, in cities where it is deemed bad for the families not to prepare the dowry well before marriage or it is not easy to prepare the dowry but in a gradual manner, in these cases there will be no khums on the dowry.

Issue No. 1501- People who prepare their graves or shroud in advance, should pay khums on them if a year passes on them.

Issue No. 1502- There is no khums on the wealth or property from which khums has been paid once unless it increases or its price goes up.

Issue No. 1503- As was mentioned earlier, expenses spent on ḥajj or mustaḥab Zīyārat is not liable to khums if it is from the incomes of the same year. In case he has to enrol himself and pay for the expenses a few years earlier, it will be reckoned as the expenditure of the same year and is not liable to khums neither in that year nor in the following years.

Issue No. 1504- If a person who along with income, has some other property on which khums is not liable, or from which khums has been paid, it is not necessary for him to separate them although he can spend both and at the end of the khums year he is just obliged to pay khums on the surplus of the property which is not liable to khums or the money on which khums has already been paid.