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Ma’aser on Gift Money

Parents often support their grown children by helping them with monthly expenditures, covering a down payment on a house, paying for the expenses of a simchah (happy occasion)—such as the bris of a newborn grandson, new-baby paraphernalia—and other such gifts. Are the children obligated to pay ma’aser (lit., “a tenth”; refers to the practice of tithing earnings for charity) on the money they receive?

Beneficiaries of monetary assistance offered for general support without specific instructions on how to spend it—for example, when parents contribute to a young kollel (married men’s yeshiva) couple’s expenses—should give ma’aser. (An exemption would apply to a family living beneath the halachic poverty threshold, a discussion beyond the scope of this article.)

However, money that is earmarked for a specific expense is patur (exempt) from ma’aser—even assur (forbidden)—the recipient may not override the intended purpose without the donor’s express permission by allocating a portion of their gift for tzeddakah. Even if the giver did not expressly say, “The money is for this specific purpose only”, we have an umdena d’muchach (an obvious assessment) that the donor would not wish their intent to be changed. There is another possible reason the money should go fully to the expenditure: ma’aser is an imperative only on profits and an allocation “swallowed up” completely by a specific expense would conceivably not qualify.

When the funds are gifted for a specific purpose, but with the donor’s permission for the money to be spent at their discretion, the recipient is obligated in ma’aser.