Which Income Is Subject to Maaser Kesafim?

Which Income Is Subject to Maaser Kesafim?

In this article we will list the main principles, and then set out the range of practical examples in the form of questions and answers, with explanatory details where needed for the various cases.

General Rules Regarding Income Subject to Maaser Kesafim

Since in practical halacha we rule that maaser kesafim is only a custom, there is no need to separate more than what is actually customary in our times. In halacha, we do not derive these laws from the laws of the tithe of produce. Therefore, in practice, the custom is to separate only from cash money and not from the monetary value of property and the like, and there is no need to go beyond this.

Likewise, one need separate only after the money has actually been received. Even if a person has already received an obligation that has monetary value, the obligation to separate maaser kesafim applies only after the actual receipt of the money. This law applies even according to those who hold that maaser kesafim is a Torah obligation or a rabbinic obligation. (Yad HaLevi, vol. 1, Yoreh De’ah, siman 132).

The poskim disagree (Sha’ar Ephraim, siman 84; Chavot Yair, siman 224; She’elat Yaavetz, vol. 2, siman 6; Noda BiYehudah, Tinyana, Yoreh De’ah, siman 198; Yad HaLevi, vol. 1, siman 130; Pitchei Teshuvah, Yoreh De’ah, siman 249, subsec. 1, and others) whether a person who profited in one business and lost in another may offset the losses, or whether he must separate from each business separately. For example, a person owns a store and also invests in stocks: the store earned 50,000 NIS, while the stocks lost 30,000 NIS. Must he separate maaser kesafim from 50,000 NIS, or only from 20,000 NIS?

However, in today’s reality, when a person invests in several investment channels and builds an appropriate investment portfolio that includes several businesses or investments with a high risk of profit and loss, and on the other hand several businesses or investments that will yield a small but secure profit, calculating what percentage to invest in each type of risk, or splitting the investment funds among several different channels in order to ensure that, in the natural course of events, he will in any case remain with profits even if a certain channel produces losses, it stands to reason that it is all considered one investment and one business. According to all opinions, he may therefore separate maaser kesafim from the total profits after offsetting all the losses, including investment channels that produced only a loss.

In practical halacha, since maaser kesafim is only a custom and is not derived from the laws of the tithe of produce, one may be lenient in every case and separate maaser kesafim only from the net profit after offsetting all annual losses. (See Ahavat Chesed, vol. 2, ch. 18).

Maaser Kesafim from a Provident Fund

Accordingly, if a person’s workplace deposits money for him each month into a different provident fund, or if a person saves each month and deposits into a provident fund, whether it is a retirement savings fund from which one can withdraw only a fixed pension after several years or upon reaching a certain age, whether it is a fund from which one can withdraw all the money at any given moment, or whether it is a fund where only after several years does the money become liquid for immediate withdrawal, there is no need to separate maaser kesafim except when he actually withdraws cash. Even where, according to law, the money in the fund is fully his, he is not obligated in maaser kesafim as long as he has not realized and redeemed the money in the fund.

Forgiveness of a Debt

If a person borrowed money from his friend, and after a long period encountered difficulties, and his friend informed him that he forgives the debt, no money has entered his possession, and there is no obligation of maaser kesafim on this.

If a person bought an item and did not pay for it, and after some time the seller forgave the debt while the item is still in his possession, he need not separate maaser kesafim on the forgiveness of the debt, because there is no actual income here. However, he would have to separate maaser kesafim on the item according to those who customarily separate even from items; but as was ruled in practical halacha, that one separates only from cash, there is no need to separate.

Collection of a Lost Debt

The opinion of Sefer Chasidim (siman 144) and the Hafla’ah (Ketubot 50) is that one should separate maaser kesafim even from a theft that was returned or from a lost debt regarding which one had despaired, if the borrower or thief repented and paid their debt. However, in practical halacha, since we rule that maaser kesafim is only a custom, one may be lenient and separate only from new money that one earned; money received as repayment of a debt is prevention of a loss, and one need not separate maaser kesafim from it.

The Wife’s Money or Her Parents’ Money at the Wedding

If a woman had private funds or assets before the wedding and the funds or assets were recorded in the ketubah, and likewise if a woman’s parents brought funds and recorded the funds in the ketubah [in the form of nichsei tzon barzel], where in practice the law is that the husband may use those funds as he wishes, but if the husband dies or divorces the wife, the wife receives those funds back as part of the ketubah obligations; on the other hand, if the wife passes away before the husband, the husband inherits the funds and they are fully his. The She’elat Yaavetz (vol. 2, siman 6) wrote that at the wedding the husband need not separate maaser kesafim because they are still not his, while when his wife passes away and he acquires the funds he need not separate maaser kesafim because the funds are no longer in existence. This is unless the money still exists, or the event took place over a short period and he is now calculating all the income of the period from the wedding until today. However, he concludes that if the husband separates at the wedding, blessing will come upon him, since he is entitled to use the funds and they may remain in his possession. But in that case he certainly need not separate again if his wife passes away.

However, regarding nichsei melog, that is, an apartment registered in the wife’s name, or any item established as remaining in the wife’s name while the husband has only a right of use, and if the husband passes away or divorces the wife the asset or item returns as is to the wife, whereas if the wife passes away the husband inherits the asset or item, there is no need at all to separate maaser kesafim. The husband separates only from the profits of the asset or item from that day onward.

When to Separate Maaser Kesafim from an Option or Bond

Question: I work in a high-tech company, and the company made an exit [it was sold for a very large sum to a group of investors]. However, since the value of the company lies in its talented employees, the investors are afraid that we will leave. In addition, they are afraid that if we leave and they obtain other employees, those employees will not “live” the entire software that we wrote and may not manage with it. In order to encourage us to want to cause the company’s value to rise and increase profitability, they distributed options to us. Personally, I received an option valued at several hundred thousand shekels, which I will be able to exercise only if I remain at the workplace until a certain date in four years. Then I will have 1.5% of the company, which I will be able to sell according to the company’s value on that date; from that date onward he will have a certain share in the company that he can sell. I note that the option already has economic value today, and I can pledge it and receive payment for it already today from banks and various entities. When must I separate maaser kesafim from the amount?

Answer: Maaser kesafim should be separated only when you actually exercise the option.

Question: I received, as part of my payment from my workplace, a United States bond. The bond states that at the end of the next civil year the United States government will pay me a certain sum including fixed interest, and the bond is tradable and I can sell it to whomever I wish. In addition, since the debt is owed by a stable government, it has almost no risk of default. When must I pay maaser kesafim, and according to which rate should I separate maaser kesafim: according to the current rate at which the bond is sold today on the market? According to the principal without the interest? According to the final payment I am expected to receive for it?

Answer: One should separate maaser kesafim only when you actually collect the debt from the U.S. government and realize the bond, and according to the amount that you actually receive. [See Yad HaLevi (vol. 1, Yoreh De’ah, siman 132)].

Money Received from Selling a Car

Question: If a person sold his car, is he obligated to separate maaser from the money he received?

Answer: He is not obligated to give maaser, because maaser kesafim is given only from profit, and here he did not profit, since he paid more for the car than what he received for it.

However, if he sold the car for more than he bought it, he should separate maaser kesafim from the difference between the purchase price and the sale price. This is common for one who buys a car for a short period, such as bein hazmanim, and sometimes finds a car at a bargain price and then finds a buyer willing to pay full price, or the value of that model rose. Likewise, a person who received a car from work or through a mobility allowance, and it was agreed with him that after a certain period he would receive a new car and be permitted to sell the previous car and take the money for himself. Likewise, a person—for example, a new immigrant—who was permitted to import a car from abroad, where it is sold cheaply with taxation benefits, and after a period to sell it in Israel without taxation, and sometimes its price is still higher than what he paid abroad [in such a case he may also deduct the shipping cost and any other expense of purchasing the car].

Must One Who Receives a Car Separate Maaser Kesafim According to Its Value?

Question: A person received a car from work as part of his salary agreement, or a person received financing from a mobility allowance to purchase a car [where the allowance was given only to pay for the car and there is no possibility of using the money in any other way], or someone whose relative bought him a car as a gift. Must he give maaser according to the value of the car immediately upon receiving it?

Answer: Since in practical halacha it has been ruled that maaser kesafim is only a custom and not an obligation, and the custom is to give only from money, there is no need to give maaser kesafim from a gift or items that one received. However, if he sells the car, he should separate maaser kesafim according to what was received at the time of sale [and there is no need to calculate the benefit of using the car for several years and the decrease in value].

Must One Who Receives an Apartment Separate Maaser Kesafim According to Its Value?

Question: When I got married I received an apartment from my parents. Am I obligated to give maaser kesafim from the value of the apartment to charity? And what is the law if I sold the apartment?

Answer: Maaser kesafim is to be given only from cash money, not from the apartment. However, if you sell the apartment, you should give maaser from the payment received for the apartment. Nevertheless, if you intend to buy another apartment with the sum received from selling the apartment, the custom is not to separate maaser from this money, and it is considered merely exchanging apartments.

Similarly, one who won an apartment from a government company, for example, receiving eligibility for public housing, or winning in the Mechir LaMishtaken lottery or a discounted apartment, and it is clear that the value of the apartment he bought is hundreds of thousands of shekels less than its real price on the open market, is nevertheless not obligated to separate maaser kesafim. Even if he won an apartment in a lottery, he is not obligated to separate maaser kesafim.

Separating Maaser Kesafim from Wedding Gifts

Question: I received many types of wedding gifts: a. cash—or a check. b. Useful gifts that we will, with God’s help, use in our new home. c. Some of the gifts we received in duplicate, or we did not like them, and we arranged with a housewares store owner that we would sell him these gifts. The question is: how does one separate maaser kesafim? Is cash money given to cover the cost of the meal subject to maaser kesafim? Is a gift given in accordance with the level of the meal subject to maaser kesafim? Must one give maaser from the value of the items received, or from the money we receive from the store, and how is the value assessed—according to how much it costs, or according to how much it is worth to us to receive the item?

Answer: Regarding cash, the matter depends very much on how the wedding is arranged and on the culture of the gift-givers. There are communities where it is accepted that these are two separate things: there is a gift to the groom and bride as participation in their wedding day, or even a gift to a close friend marrying off his child, and there is the wedding meal. In such a case, one may not deduct the wedding expenses from the gift, unless the giver explicitly says that it is to help cover the expenses.

On the other hand, there are communities where it is clearly accepted that the gift is compensation for the meal, especially when a person comes to the hall and determines the amount of the gift according to the level of the meal. In that case, one may deduct the cost of the wedding from the gifts, and only if more money was received than the cost of the wedding is there an obligation to separate maaser kesafim. However, this is only on condition that the money goes to the person who paid for the wedding—for example, where the groom and bride themselves pay for the wedding, or the parents pay for the wedding but the gifts are given to the groom’s parents to finance the wedding. But if the parents finance the wedding and give the gift money to the young couple, maaser kesafim should be separated from it as usual, without deducting the wedding expenses.

Regarding objects, maaser should be given only from the money received in exchange for selling the object, and not for the objects received. If a person sells the objects and receives cash for them, it makes no difference what the true value of the objects is; he is obligated to separate maaser kesafim only from the money actually received. However, since the object was not given to finance the meal, even among a community where it is accepted to buy an object according to the level of the hall where the wedding is held, and it is clear that the object is compensation for the meal, one should separate maaser kesafim from it. [Unless the groom deliberately held the wedding in an expensive place because he knew that this would cause people to bring him expensive objects, which he would sell and thereby finance the cost of the hall].

Money Given for a Specific Purpose

If a person received money for a specific defined purpose, such as a parent who gave his son money to buy food for the home, or money to buy an apartment, he is obligated to separate maaser from it, because the donor or giver generally does not object if he gives 10% of it to charity, and this is the normal way a person uses money. If he will not have enough to buy an apartment if he separates 10%, he should record it as a debt to charity, and when he is able, from time to time, he should repay the debt. But if the giver insists that not a single shekel of the money be used for anything except the defined purpose, he is exempt from giving maaser from this money. (Chazon Ish, cited in Derech Emunah, Matnot Aniyim, ch. 7, Tziyun HaHalacha, subsec. 67).

Moreover, even if the donor explicitly stipulates that the recipient may indeed do whatever he wants with the money, but the objects or food items remain the property of the donor and he merely allows that person to use them whenever he wishes, in such a case, since the money and the objects bought with the money remain the giver’s property, they are exempt from maaser.

Maaser from an Inheritance

Question: I inherited a significant sum of money from my father, and my father was always careful to tithe every shekel that came into his possession. Must I tithe the inheritance money again?

Answer: One must tithe it again, even if the father who bequeathed it already separated maaser from the money and gave it to charity.

Question: I inherited an apartment. Must I tithe the apartment according to its value?

Answer: One need not tithe it, because maaser is given only from money and not from objects. But if the heir sells the apartment, he must give maaser, unless he uses the money he receives from the first apartment to buy another apartment, in which case he is exempt from maaser.

Maaser from Shopping Vouchers

Question: I received shopping vouchers from work for the holidays. Must they be tithed?

Answer: They need not be tithed, since maaser kesafim is a custom, and this custom was practiced only with actual money. Regarding vouchers whose use is limited to certain places, there is no custom to separate, and therefore one is not obligated where there is no custom.

Payment for Damage

Question: I received a payment from insurance for damage caused to my car. Am I obligated to tithe it?

Answer: There is no obligation to give maaser from insurance proceeds, because there is no profit here but rather coverage of a loss, and maaser kesafim is given only on profit. However, if you received an insurance payment for something that does not involve monetary loss, such as compensation for distress, you must give maaser kesafim from it, even though you would have preferred not to have had the distress and not to have earned the compensation. Similarly, if insurance pays for illness and the like, one should separate maaser kesafim from it.

A Theft That Was Returned

Question: A friend stole money from my store, then repented and returned the money to me. Must I separate maaser kesafim from the money?

Answer: There is no need to separate maaser kesafim, since there is no monetary profit here, but only the return of a loss.

Deducting a Vacation from Income

Question: I am an accountant, and the main work and effort are during the tax months at the beginning of the year. During these months I am hardly at home, and more than once I even sleep in the office. During these months I earn an amount that is sufficient for my profit for an entire year, and during the rest of the year I have almost no work, and I set most of the day for study in kollel. However, after these months end I need a major vacation, and I go away for a week with the whole family in order to recover and to make up to the family for the atmosphere that was lacking during those months. This contributes to family unity, and the wife and children know that even if during those months I am less attentive to them, a vacation awaits them in which we will make things up, and this helps them accept the difficulty involved. The question is whether the vacation expenses may be deducted from the income.

Answer: In any case where the vacation is truly because of the workload and is needed for the work, it may be considered an expense. But a vacation that a person wants to take in any event, even if he chooses a date after a period of work pressure, should not be considered an expense. A person must be honest with himself about this matter, and in general it is always worthwhile to consider whether the vacation is indeed needed and whether it will bring the desired benefit.

Is a Poor Person Obligated in Maaser Kesafim?

Question: Is a poor person also obligated to separate maaser kesafim? A poor person [such as a yeshiva student whose status is that of a poor person (as below), who receives money from his parents or earned money on various occasions; and similarly a kollel fellow whose wife does not work and who does not “make ends meet”] who received charity or maaser and has money left from what he received after using it for his full sustenance—must he give maaser?

Answer: The Gemara (Gittin 7b) states: “Even a poor person who is supported by charity should give charity,” and so it is ruled in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah, siman 248, se’if 1). On the other hand, the Rema (Yoreh De’ah, siman 251, se’if 3) ruled that a person is obligated to give charity only if he has what he needs for his sustenance. At first glance, the two halachot contradict one another. The Shach (Yoreh De’ah, siman 248, subsec. 1) explained that if he has enough for his sustenance, but does not have a stable fund from which he can support himself, he may take from charity even if he has more than his basic needs remaining. In that case, he is obligated to give charity. On the other hand, if even what he received is not enough for his sustenance, he is entirely exempt from giving charity.

Another difference between an ordinary person and a poor person is that if an ordinary person does not give charity as he is supposed to, the beit din has authority to compel him to give charity, whereas a poor person, although he is obligated to give charity, is not compelled to give charity. (Shach, siman 248, subsec. 2; Shulchan Aruch, siman 253, se’if 8; Shach, siman 253, subsec. 11).

Therefore, in practical halacha, a poor person who does not make ends meet and does not have enough for his basic needs is not obligated to give maaser kesafim. However, if a little money remains beyond his basic needs, he must give maaser kesafim on the entire amount he received. Yet if the amount remaining is less than 10% of the amount he received, he is obligated to give only what remains.

For example, a poor person who needs 5,000 NIS for his basic needs and received 6,000 NIS in a particular month should separate 600 NIS for charity. But if he received 5,500 NIS, and if he separates 10%—550 NIS—he will lack for his basic needs, he should separate only the remaining 500 NIS. If he earned only 5,000 NIS or less, he is completely exempt from maaser kesafim and need not calculate it for the following month.

A person who has no basic expenses, such as a young man living in his parents’ home, or in a yeshiva or anywhere else, and who has various income, is obligated to separate maaser kesafim from the entire amount. However, if he has a basic need that is not supplied by his parents or by the yeshiva and the income is not sufficient for it, he is not obligated to separate maaser kesafim.

A yeshiva student must give maaser from what remains to him (if he receives a monthly or weekly allowance and the time has passed and money remains) for all the money he received (if enough remains to separate corresponding to all of it), like any poor person. (Chazon Ish, cited in Derech Emunah, Matnot Aniyim, ch. 7, Tziyun HaHalacha, subsec. 58).

A poor person must separate maaser kesafim even from a donation he received, a stipend, an allowance, and any sum of money that comes in, even though he receives the money as charity.

One Who Finds It Difficult to Calculate and Wants to Give Approximately

Question: It is very difficult for me to calculate income and expenses, and therefore I want to give approximately. I know that I always donate more than the required amount, because I have substantial disposable income and abundant livelihood, thank God. On the other hand, I have needy relatives whom I try to support generously, and I also have a kollel for avrechim that I established for the elevation of my father’s soul, where I generously support needy Torah scholars.

Answer: The Acharonim disagree about this. The opinion of Chavot Yair (siman 224) is that regarding the tithe of produce there is a law to tithe precisely and not by estimate, and therefore even if it is clear to him that he is donating more than a fifth, he must calculate the expenses and income. However, Pitchei Teshuvah (Yoreh De’ah, siman 249, subsec. 2) cited that the Mishnat Chachamim disagreed with him and wrote that if it is clear to him that he is giving more, there is no need to make an accounting, and that suffices, because maaser kesafim is derived from the obligation to separate maaser ani from produce in the third and sixth years, and regarding maaser ani there is no prohibition against adding more than 10%.

However, the entire discussion applies only according to the poskim who hold that the laws of maaser kesafim are derived from the laws of the tithe of produce, where it is forbidden to separate by estimate. In practice, according to our custom that maaser kesafim is only a custom and not a Torah or rabbinic obligation to apply the laws of the tithe of produce to money as well, there is no need to be particular not to separate by estimate. For one for whom the matter is difficult, he may estimate approximately; he must only take into account that the human tendency when estimating approximately is to reduce the charity funds, and therefore he should from time to time monitor that he is indeed estimating correctly. However, where it is clear that he is giving more than the required measure, one may be lenient.

The best way for one for whom it is difficult is to estimate in a manner that he gives slightly more than a tenth, and stipulate that up to the amount of maaser it is considered maaser, and the addition is considered charity. (Based on Ahavat Chesed, vol. 2, ch. 19, note; Derech Emunah, Matnot Aniyim, ch. 7, end of subsec. 27).

Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah, siman 249, se’ifim 1–2); Azmera Lishmecha (issue 157).