What it means
خمس (khoms) comes from the Arabic word khamsa, meaning five. The tax is literally one-fifth (20 percent) of surplus annual income and certain other categories of gain. It is a distinctly Shia obligation with Quranic grounding in verse 8:41, which specifies that one-fifth of war spoils belongs to God, the Prophet, and his kin. In Shia jurisprudence this ruling was extended over centuries to cover annual surplus income, minerals, treasure, and other categories. Khoms is paid to a qualified religious authority, a مرجع تقلید (marja’-e taqlid), who divides it: half goes to the descendants of the Prophet (سادات, sadat) in need, and half goes toward religious institutions and scholarship. It is a pillar of Shia financial law with no direct Sunni equivalent.
How to use it
- خمس مال خود را به مرجعت پرداخت کن. (khoms-e mal-e khod ra be marja’-at pardakht kon.) “Pay the khoms on your wealth to your religious authority.”
- روز خمس را در تقویم مالیات مشخص کن. (ruz-e khoms ra dar taqvim-e mali-at moshakhas kon.) “Mark your khoms day in your financial calendar.”
- خمس فقط برای شیعیان واجب است. (khoms faqat baraye shi’iyan vajeb ast.) “Khoms is obligatory only for Shia Muslims.”
- آیا درآمد اضافیام مشمول خمس میشه؟ (aya daramad-e ezafi-am mashmul-e khoms mishe?) “Does my surplus income become subject to khoms?”
Cultural note
Khoms is one of the most distinctive features of Shia religious economy and a major source of funding for seminaries, scholarly institutions, and charitable works. Shia Muslims typically set a personal سال خمسی (sal-e khomsi), an annual khoms accounting date, and pay one-fifth of whatever net surplus remains unspent from the previous year. The institution has given Shia religious authorities a degree of financial independence from state funding that shapes the social and political role of the clergy in Iran and Iraq. Debate among scholars continues over which categories of income and property are subject to the obligation.