Short answer: in most cases, no. You already tithed on that money when you earned it. A tax refund is not new income. It is your own money coming back to you.
The longer answer is worth thinking through, because tithing on a refund is one of the most common questions I get from Christians who tithe on gross income.
A tax refund is the difference between what your employer withheld from your paychecks during the year and what you actually owed in taxes. If too much was withheld, the government returns the difference. That is what a refund is.
It is not a gift. It is not a bonus. It is your own paycheck money, held by the government for a year, returned to you in the spring.
Here is the timeline that matters:
That refund is part of the $X you already tithed on. Tithing on it again would be tithing on the same dollars twice.
The confusion usually starts because the refund feels like new money. It hits your bank account in a lump sum, often at a time when you have not been thinking about it. It feels like a windfall. People feel guilty keeping all of it.
The feeling is honest. The math is just wrong. The money was already yours, and you already brought God His ten percent of it when you earned it.
There are a few real exceptions.
If you tithed on net all year. If you only tithed on take-home pay, then yes, the refund is income you did not yet tithe on. Tithe on it.
If you got a tax credit you did not earn. Some credits (like the earned income tax credit, or certain stimulus payments) put money in your pocket beyond what you withheld. That portion functions as new income, not a refund of your own money. Tithe on it.
If you are self-employed and the refund is from quarterly overpayments. Same principle. You already tithed on the income, so the refunded portion of the quarterly payments is yours again. Do not tithe twice.
If you are not sure. Tithe on the refund. You will not break anything by giving a little extra to your church. God never accuses anyone of being too generous.
Here is the cleanest way to think about it:
There is a separate category worth naming. Offerings are above and beyond the tithe. They can be given any time, any amount, to anywhere God prompts.
If your refund hits and you feel God leading you to give some of it as an offering, do it. That is different from tithing on it as required obedience. It is generosity flowing out of an already-obedient heart. That is the New Testament pattern Paul describes:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Tithe on the income when you earn it. Then, with the rest, listen to God about what offerings He wants you to give.
You cannot outgive God. That is not a slogan. It is the testimony of God’s people through centuries. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). The dollars in your bank account are not yours to begin with. They are entrusted to you for a season.
The tithe is just the first ten percent acknowledgment of that. Everything else is up to you and the Lord.
Use the Tithe Calculator to figure your tithe for any income or pay frequency. Multiply, give, and trust God with the rest.