If you tithe...

[bibleguy]

I'm wondering how you figure your tithes (assuming you pay).

The Bible ties tithes to your increase. I can think of two formulae for the average worker:

1) Pay on gross income.

2) Pay on net income.

It being tax season, many of us get a tax rebate check each year. If you choose option #1, then this money was witheld, but you paid tithes on it already, and therefore should have no obligation to do so again.

If you choose #2, then you would have paid only on your check amount, and would have not tithed your witholdings at all.

Or do you have another method?

[Penny]

I pay on my take home pay. Then if we get tax rebate, I pay on it.

And I never ever use that for my taxes. (I do not put the amount I give to church down on my taxes)

[paul]

I'm wondering how you figure your tithes (assuming you pay).

The Bible ties tithes to your increase. I can think of two formulae for the average worker:

1) Pay on gross income.

2) Pay on net income.

It being tax season, many of us get a tax rebate check each year. If you choose option #1, then this money was witheld, but you paid tithes on it already, and therefore should have no obligation to do so again.

If you choose #2, then you would have paid only on your check amount, and would have not tithed your witholdings at all.

Or do you have another method?

On the full amount gross......last years giving was 18% of total imcome to our local church alone.

[Pastor Bill]

I tithe on gross, giving to God before Uncle Sam.

And at tax time, I DO turn in my tithes as charitable contributions, getting back from Uncle Sam what I can (that's not taking anything from God, just from Uncle Sam)

[fezzik]

I tithe on gross, giving to God before Uncle Sam.

And at tax time, I DO turn in my tithes as charitable contributions, getting back from Uncle Sam what I can (that's not taking anything from God, just from Uncle Sam)

I do the exact same thing. God gets my first 10%, then the government gets their cut, then my medical coverage, then my retirement...then I pay bills and buy food. Whatever is left goes into more giving, savings and play money.

When I was a teenager I tithed on net (bring home pay), but I prayed about it and realized God wanted the best of my first fruits, and to me that means my gross salary. It's not God's fault the government is horribly innefficient, corrupt and demands a huge % of my salary.

[Full Quiver]

It's not God's fault the government is horribly innefficient, corrupt and demands a huge % of my salary.

Oh really? Did He not set up the powers that be?

[Pastor Bill]

We used to tithe on net as well, then tithed on our tax return, but then we started getting less back than we paid in, plus counting what they are taking out of my check for insurance, retirement, etc. Then when we replaced our old van, I financed through a credit union at work, and they take that right out of my check (paid that off and let it start going into savings, now having to pay on a truck, same situation) anyway, it is just much easier to go by the gross than tracking all that, plus I feel that's probably more accurate, but I don't have a problem with those that tithe on the net, that's between you and God, honestly it's just good to see people actually tithing rather than putting a dollar in the plate like they saw their parents do 30 years ago!

[RamboPreacher]

pay on (more than) gross. do not then tithe on any refunds. Personally - the tithe is a foundation of a lifestyle of giving overall. there are several threads in the doctrine forum about the tithe.

[bibleguy]

I always tithed my net, as it was my "increase." Then tithed on the rebate. I also claimed (when I could itemize) my donations: more deductions = more rebate = more tithes.

Of course also gave offerings and helped others in need.

Now a new scenario. How do I determine my take now? I sell/make/service signs and I have not turned a profit yet. Do any of you have a similar situation? Do you tithe on the taxable income?

Interesting about the "3-year" idea with taxes, that you can show a loss for three years. In the O.T. it says, “And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.” (Leviticus 19:23-24)

[Russell Roberts]

A very similar debate raged among the Pharisees...whether to tithe on the smallest of herbs.

There truly is nothing new under the sun.

[bibleguy]

This thread isn't meant to be a debate. No one is saying tithes should or shouldn't be paid, nor is anyone saying that one tithing method is better than another. Those who tithe are only expressing how they do so.

If this thread were intended to debate tithing, whether it should be done today or not, and its proper application, it would be found in the Doctrine forum. (No doubt there have been numerous -- perhaps countless -- threads on the subject over there already.)

[kurt73]

On the gross, if you really think about it it is all God given to us to be good stewarts with it.

[Russell Roberts]

Bibleguy,

Who is debating? I made a simple comment. The question reminds me of the careful observance of the law by the Pharisees.

[KBevangelist]

I tithe on gross, giving to God before Uncle Sam.

And at tax time, I DO turn in my tithes as charitable contributions, getting back from Uncle Sam what I can (that's not taking anything from God, just from Uncle Sam)

I do the exact same thing. God gets my first 10%, then the government gets their cut, then my medical coverage, then my retirement...then I pay bills and buy food. Whatever is left goes into more giving, savings and play money.

We do the same

KB

[fezzik]

Further thoughts from me:

Tithing on gross is tithing on your increase...your salary. After that you can render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar.

Tithing on net is tithing only on what you get after taxes. Paying tithes on your refund does not make up for the difference since your refund is not everything you pay in taxes unless you make less than a certain benchmark. I do not want to have my tithing go up or down depending on how much the IRS is charging me.