Short answer
Yes. Savings are zakatable whatever you plan to spend them on, because the money is still yours on your zakat date. Only what you have already spent, or paid over to a seller or agent, drops out. The four schools agree.
Cash and gold are zakatable in themselves, so money kept for a future need, such as hajj, a home, a wedding or university fees, is zakatable when a year completes over the nisab. The intention to spend it later does not remove the zakat.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
People often feel that money set aside for something important, like a deposit on a house, a hajj fund or a wedding, should be exempt. It is not. Zakat is due on wealth you own when your zakat year completes, and the plan you have for it does not change that. Ibn Abidin notes that even money kept to spend on one's needs is zakatable if the nisab of it is still there when the year ends. The four schools agree.
- A house deposit fund or help-to-buy savings: zakatable.
- Money saved for hajj or umrah: zakatable until you pay it over.
- A wedding fund or savings for university fees: zakatable.
- An emergency fund: zakatable.
Once the money has been paid to the seller, the builder or the hajj operator under a contract, it is no longer yours, so it is not counted. A refundable deposit that is still held for you and will come back to you remains your money.
Some worry that zakat will slow down their plans. Zakat is only 2.5 percent, it is due before any optional spending, and the Prophet ﷺ promised that charity does not decrease wealth; see does charity decrease your wealth. Add these savings to your other zakatable wealth on your zakat date and use the zakat calculator.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:34
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴿٣٤﴾
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Stored wealth carries Allah's right, whatever it is being kept for.
Sunan Abi Dawud 1573
Graded sahih... فإذا كانت لك مائتا درهم وحال عليها الحول ففيها خمسة دراهم ...
"When you have two hundred dirhams and a year has passed over them, five dirhams are due on them."
The duty depends on owning the amount for a year, not on what it is being saved for.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, on money kept for one's needs. Money held to spend on needs is still zakatable if the nisab remains when the year completes.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of wealth. Gold, silver and money are zakatable whatever the owner intends to do with them.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.