Zakat on GPF and Provident Funds

Short answer: The portion you cannot withdraw or spend at will carries no zakat before you take possession, because ownership is incomplete. Once received, it joins your cash and is zakated after nisab and hawl. However, voluntary contributions that can be withdrawn at any time are zakatable every year. Details: Compulsory GPF/PF balances sit under the employer's/state's control — you can neither spend nor invest them. Complete ownership (milk tāmm) is a condition of zakat, so it is suspended. Per the Permanent Committee's principle, the reckoning starts when the money reaches your hand; paying one year's zakat immediately upon receipt is a commendable precaution for large, long-accumulated sums. Evidence: Quran 9:103; Ibn Majah 1792 (no hawl without controlled ownership); the principle of the Permanent Committee and Shaykh Ibn Baz on inaccessible entitlements. Caution: Interest-based 'profit' credited to PF accounts is riba — on receipt, keep only your principal contributions and give away the interest portion without expecting reward; it is not zakat. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.