Is zakat obligatory on the workers' share of the olive harvest, or is it sufficient to give it only on the owner's share after pressing?

Zakat on olives is a matter of scholarly disagreement. The Hanafis and Malikis hold that zakat is obligatory on them, due to the general wording found in the Qur’an, and because olives and their oil are storable.

The Shafi’is and Hanbalis, however, hold that zakat is not obligatory on them, because, in their view, they are not a storable staple food.

The more cautious approach is to pay zakat on them if they reach the nisab, which is five awsuq, or 60 sa’s. The amount of zakat is one-tenth of the produce if it was irrigated by rainwater, and half of one-tenth if it was irrigated by machinery.

As for deducting the expenses of harvesting olives before paying zakat, the Companions differed on this matter. The view that expenses should not be deducted is what was chosen by the proponents of the four schools of thought. Zakat is obligatory on the entire yield, and the costs of gathering are borne by the owner of the wealth.