Can I Use My Yearly Tax Calculation For Maaser, or Must I Separate Earnings & Profits Immediately? What's The Halacha [#115]

Can I Use My Yearly Tax Calculation For Maaser, or Must I Separate Earnings & Profits Immediately? What's The Halacha [#115]

Can I Use My Year-End 2026 Tax Calculation For Maaser (Balancing Profits/Losses)?

Topic: Whether a person must separate maaser as profits come in, or whether he may choose a later date (such as year-end) to make one full calculation, including profits and losses.

This is not financial advice. Before acting on anything discussed here, a person should speak to a tax specialist or accountant. As well, maaser is only for those who can afford it. Readers should speak to their Rav who knows them well to determine whether they should give and if so, how much

The Question

Many people have the minhag of giving between 10% and 20% (and in certain situations even more than 20%) of their profits to tzedakah. The question is how the calculation should be done in practice.

Does a person separate maaser EACH TIME profit comes in (whether it comes into his pocket, a bank account, or by check), or may he choose a later date to group earnings together - for example once a week, once a month, every six months, or once a year?

If he waits and groups everything together, can he calculate profits and losses together? Meaning that if he made more money earlier in the year but later had a loss, can the loss be incorporated into the overall calculation?

And practically, since many people make their tax calculations once a year, can a person choose December 31st (the last day of the year) as the date to base their final yearly maaser calculation as well?

May a Person Choose a Later Date?

Regarding the question of grouping everything together: most Poskim say that a person may pick one specific date that is convenient for them to make a grand calculation of earnings. These Poskim include The Chofetz Chaim, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and the Shevet HaLevi. It could be Weekly, Monthly, Bi-Monthly, or even Yearly.

A Practical Example: A person may choose December 31st (the date used for calculating taxes in many countries) and calculate their total maaser amount based on that yearly accounting of profits and losses.

If One Realizes an Immediate Profit Before That Time?

According to those Poskim who allow waiting until a later date, there is a discussion about a case where a person happens to know exactly how much profit was made from a specific business venture in the middle of the term, before his scheduled “later” date. However, even though it is disputed, many later-day Poskim say that a person may still wait until the end of the time period they originally chose and make one full accounting, even if he already knows about some specific amounts of clear profit in the interim.

An Important Limitation

Everyone agrees that if a person separated an actual maaser amount from a profit, he would no longer be able to include it when blending profits and losses later on.

The Chofetz Chaim’s Guidance: Make a Condition (“Tenai”)

The Chofetz Chaim points out a practical issue due to the above limitation: many people do not wait until the end of the year to give tzedakah. They separate and give maaser throughout the year and then later make a calculation based on how much they already gave. Like we mentioned, this would seemingly be problematic.

He therefore advises individuals to make a condition (“Tenai”) and say that their tzedakah being given throughout the year/term is based on projected earnings. Then, at the end of the year/term, when making an accurate accounting of the total amount of profits/losses, a person can adjust the maaser amount accordingly. If it comes out that he gave more than required, he can use/deduct that extra amount toward future maaser accounting, and if he gave less than required, he can correct it at that time and add more.

This is discussed by the Chofetz Chaim in his sefer Ahavas Chesed (אהבת חסד פרק יח סעיף קטן ב אות ג).

The Extra Benefits of Separating Maaser Right Away

There is a very big advantage for those who separate the money right away. Psychologically, when a person makes money, the longer he holds onto it, the more he becomes attached to it. This attachment makes it even harder to give the tzedakah.

One very practical solution that many people do, is set up a separate direct deposit of the given % of their paycheck so that their maaser is automatically directed into a separate tzedakah account. This is a very good idea, and it may be worth discussing with an employer if they offer such an option or checking your direct deposit settings.

{We are currently developing an app (MaaserApp.com) that would assist in this step. It’s a lot of work and we’ll have an announcement be”H when its ready.}

Upcoming Topic – Calculating Before/After Taxes + Benefits

We will be”H follow up with another class regarding how to calculate maaser in relation to taxes, whether the calculation is made before taxes or after taxes, and which taxes or beneficiary payments can be included in the yearly tax cheshbon.

Please note that these are only GUIDELINES, as the circumstances and laws can vary greatly from case to case. Any nuance or slight change in detail can affect the outcome greatly and should be discussed with a competent Rav or Posek to assess the proper halacha