He paid Zakah on the profit of a sold piece of land
2-11-2010 | IslamWeb
Question:
I have purchased a land for real estate business and sold it after three months in which i have got a net profit of 4 lakhs indian currency. i have disbersed 2.5%percent of the profit as ZAKATH WHEN RECEIVED THE AMOUNT.Half of then zakath paid to my younger married dayghter who is poor and i seems that she include in MISKEEN categery of zakath recivers.quarter of the zakath paid to the poor people living as neibours.the balance paid who is coming in my house asking for help Please intimate whether my action is correct in the view of islamic rules I am mulim living in INDIA
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
It is only an obligation to pay the Zakah if the money reaches the Nisaab (the minimum amount liable for Zakah) and a whole lunar year elapses over it. The Zakah on the tradable items is based on the original money with which they were purchased. Hence, you should have paid the Zakah on the money when a whole lunar year had elapsed over the price at which you bought the land.
Moreover, in principle, Zakah should be paid on the capital money and on the profit altogether and you should not have paid the Zakah on the profit only. For more benefit, refer to Fatwa 133630.
Therefore, if the price of the land is in your possession until one lunar year has elapsed since the time you possessed it, then you are obligated to pay Zakah on all of it (both the purchase price and the profit), which is 2.5%. If you had spent it before a whole lunar year elapses, then you do not have to pay Zakah on it.
In any case, the money that you had paid with the intention of Zakah is sufficient for that amount of money (the profit of the sold land), so you do not have to pay it again, as you are acquitted from sin because it is permissible to pay the Zakah or part of it before its due time.
Allaah Knows best.