Zakat on a Portfolio in Loss

Short answer: Yes — a loss does not waive zakat; but the reckoning uses today's actual market value (6 lakh), not your cost. Whatever the portfolio is worth on your zakat day is zakated at 2.5%, provided your total wealth stands above nisab. Details: Zakat attaches to existing wealth — not to past prices or notional gains and losses. Valuing at cost would tax you on wealth you no longer have — a burden the shariah never imposed; equally, when prices rise you pay on the increase — justice cuts both ways. Unrealized losses may reverse before you sell; each year is reckoned at that year's price. If you sell and realize the loss, whatever cash came in is what enters the books. Evidence: Quran 2:286; Quran 9:103; Sahih al-Bukhari 1454 (2.5% on money); the Permanent Committee and Shaykh Ibn Baz on valuing trade goods at the zakat-day market price. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.