Dodging Zakat by Moving Money Before Year-End

Short answer: Devices (hiyal) to dodge zakat — temporary transfers before the hawl, fake expenses, engineered splits — are haram; and on the weightier view they do not even lift the duty: a transfer made with evasive intent does not move the liability before Allah. The Prophet ﷺ expressly forbade manipulation to reduce sadaqah. Details: 'Separate property is not combined nor combined property separated for fear of sadaqah' — stated about livestock, but scholars derived the general rule: every zakat-reduction scheme is forbidden. Recall the owners of the garden (Surah al-Qalam) who set out at night to harvest before the poor could come — Allah destroyed the whole garden. Genuine spending or charity before the hawl is of course lawful — the test is intent: real expenditure is one thing, a for-show transfer with a promised return quite another. One who truly gives wealth away (never to reclaim) has simply become less wealthy — no sin in that. Evidence: Sahih al-Bukhari 1450; Quran 68:17-33; Sahih al-Bukhari 1 (intentions); Shaykh al-Uthaymin that evasive hiyal do not discharge the duty. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.