Dr. Monzer Kahf, a prominent economist and counselor, states: “According to the majority of Muslim scholars salaries are not subject to Zakah, because the passage of one full lunar year from the day one acquires a nisab is a necessary condition for the obligation of Zakah.
Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi believes that salaries are subject to Zakah because that condition is not on all forms of what one owns and he also quotes some incidences from the time of the Companions of the Prophet that may indicate taking Zakah on earned income (salaries and professional income).
This view of Dr. Al-Qaradawi is supported by the point that richness is not only manifested by how much one owns but also by how much one earns, and Zakah is on the rich. I go along with this view. However, according to Al-Qaradawi, there are conditions for this obligation of Zakah on salaries:
1. Deducing personal and family expenses. These include any other expenses even for leisure and Shari`ah permissible entertainment
2. What remains after the above expenses should accumulate to a nisab for a whole lunar year.
The difference between the two views is not really big. This may be a surprise to some; but if we look closely, we will find that according to both whatever is saved is subject to Zakah. The second opinion requires Zakah to be paid in the first year during the accumulation of savings while the first opinion
only requires Zakah in the second year that begins on the day when a nisab is reached.”