Planting Costs and Cost-of-Living in Paddy Zakah Accounting in Malaysia: An Analysis

This study intends to examine and analyse planting costs and cost-of-living in paddy zakah accounting practices in Malaysia with the aim of determining whether these costs are deducted from the gross income or otherwise because currently in Malaysia, there are numerous paddy zakah accounting methods. There are states that do not deduct both these costs; there are states that only deduct the planting costs; and yet there are states that deduct both these costs from the gross income. The question is why some states not only allow the deduction of planting costs but also the cost-of-living too? What are their arguments and reasons for doing this? Based on the content analysis carried out on the primary and secondary data, this study found that a majority of states in Malaysia do not allow the deduction of planting costs and cost-of-living from the gross income except four states, which were Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah and Sarawak only allow the deduction of planting costs from the gross income, while Perlis and Pulau Pinang not only allow the deduction of planting costs, but also the deduction of cost-of-living from the gross income too. Although there are differences among the states, the paddy zakah accounting practices in the four states are in accordance with the views of the fuqaha’. They have strong arguments and do consider the social aspect of the farmers.