Is Zakat due on wealth every year, or is Zakat due only on the new amount that has completed a full year, knowing that Zakat was already paid on the original amount?

We have previously issued detailed fatwas regarding the issue of acquired wealth during the year. The summary is that if the acquired wealth is an increase of the principal (such as business profits and livestock offspring), it is Zakat-eligible with its principal. However, if it is not an increase of the principal (such as employees' salaries, inherited money, or gifted money), Abu Hanifa's view is that it is Zakat-eligible with its principal, while the view of the majority (which is the more preponderant) is that it is Zakat-eligible upon the completion of its own special hawl (lunar year). It is permissible for the owner of the wealth to pay Zakat on all the money at the hawl of the principal as an early payment of Zakat.

Regarding your friend's statement: If he meant that the acquired wealth starts a new hawl and is not Zakat-eligible with the principal (if it is not an increase thereof), then he is correct. However, if he meant that the money is Zakat-eligible only once and not in subsequent years, then this is false. Zakat is obligatory at the beginning of every Hijri hawl as long as the wealth reaches the nisab (minimum threshold), and there is no disagreement among scholars on this matter. This excludes crops and fruits, which are Zakat-eligible for one year only.