A question about tything

[SueKrum]

my husband and I both work and we try and give 10% of both our incomes. My husband likes to take some of our extra money and play the stock market a little bit. he really hasn’t made any money off of it yet, but my question is, if he ever does, should we consider that our income as well and give some of that to the church? I’m not trying to be legalistic or anything like that, but I’m just wondering if the church says anything about this. Also, I receive social security. should I be tything from that as well? I don’t as of now. would it be better to start doing so? I’m just wondering. not losing any sleep over it or anything.
thanks

 

[WanderAimlessly]

I believe so, but only at the point when the stock is sold. Dividends, however, should be calculated in. Saying that, I do not believe the Church requires us to tithe. Here are some other threads from Ask an Apologist forum on this:

• Must Catholics tithe?
• What does the Church teach on tithing? (Good article linked to this thread)
• Are Christians obligated to tithe 10% of our gross income or net income?

PF

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

You aren’t obligated to give a percentage unless you want to do that.

Our diocese recommends:
5% to the parish
1% to the diocese
4% to other charities as the givers see fit.

It never states gross or net. It never demands.

IF IT WERE ME AND MY HUSBAND, we would give off the net dividend, and then if there was a profit off the stock, off the net.

 

[SueKrum]

thank you both. Wander, that article was most inlightning. I appriciate it

 

[puzzleannie]

for years we have arrived at the 10 percent amount when we do our taxes each year, using taxable income on line whatever, then tithe that amount for the following year, 5% parish, 1% diocese, 4% missions, special collections, CFCA and other charities. then we also tithe spending, for instance, if we buy a 10K car or invest 10K, we then would give 5% to a religious based charity. Spending $100 at the grocery story, give $5 to food bank or second harvest (easy to do right at the cash register nowdays) or buy $5 worth of babyfood or canned goods for St. Vincent.same thing if we received a windfall such as inheritance, put 10% in charitable annuity or other donation (get tax advice on this, because it makes a big difference on how much bang for the buck the charity enjoys, and on your own situation, particularly if windfall includes appreciated securities).

 

[ReginaNova]

puzzleannie:

for years we have arrived at the 10 percent amount when we do our taxes each year, using taxable income on line whatever, then tithe that amount for the following year, 5% parish, 1% diocese, 4% missions, special collections, CFCA and other charities. then we also tithe spending, for instance, if we buy a 10K car or invest 10K, we then would give 5% to a religious based charity. Spending $100 at the grocery story, give $5 to food bank or second harvest (easy to do right at the cash register nowdays) or buy $5 worth of babyfood or canned goods for St. Vincent.same thing if we received a windfall such as inheritance, put 10% in charitable annuity or other donation (get tax advice on this, because it makes a big difference on how much bang for the buck the charity enjoys, and on your own situation, particularly if windfall includes appreciated securities).

I am surprised at the “tithe spending”. If you are tithing another 5 percent of all your spending (in addition to the 10 percent of your prior year’s taxable income), then you are tithing in total more than 10 percent. Since your spending is a large proportion of your income, you are tithing close to 15 percent of your gross income. Wow. That is pretty amazing.

I have seen IRS statistics that show that Americans give around 1 percent of their income in charitable donations–or something similarly low. When I walked in on our priest and parish staff counting the collection recently, there was a pile of $1 bills on the table that they were counting. The weekly collection reported in the parish bulletin comes to $1 to $2 per attendee. And that doesn’t count the “registered” parishioners who do not attend on a regular basis and therefore do not support the parish financially.

 

[SueKrum]

well, what the IRS says isn’t totally accurate because there are a lot of people who give and do not report it on their taxes. I do not. my husband and I don’t make much money and we get most of our taxes back when we file income taxes. I know a lot of people like this, but they still give. the government just can’t keep track because not everyone reports it. maybe this is rare, I don’t know.

it’s so sad that not very many people give to the Church. I don’t give a lot and probably not teh full five per cent because we help out the food bank, the guide dog school and a couple of other places that are close to our hearts. Am I short changing our church? I do give. probably about 3% to my church. we are a very wealthy parish and a lot of folks there have a lot more to give than I do. Should I be consontrating on the parish more than some of these other things?