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Question
I have been giving tzadaka, but I am still not clear how to calculate the 10% requirement. For example, is the 10% on your net pay check from work after taxes? Is it after your net pay check minus Yeshiva tuition minus mortgage minus utilities etc... As my family grows I incur more expenses. What is my real 10% obligation based on?
Answer
Ten percent of a person's wages after taxes should be set aside for tzedakah. Business expenses and Jewish education costs may be deducted from the 10 percent. (Some people deduct only two- thirds of a boy's Torah education cost.)
Mortgage and utilities may not be deducted - (source: "Ma'aser Kesafim" by R' A.M. Albert, Pgs. 352-5; "Igrot Moshe" by R' M. Feinstein, Y.D. I 143; "Tzitz Eliezer" by R' E. Waldenberg, IX 1).
With blessings from Jerusalem,Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Aish.com
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