Should you tithe on your gross income or your net income? It is one of the most common questions Christians ask about giving. It is also one of the questions Scripture answers more clearly than people often realize.
The short version: the biblical model points to gross. The grace-filled version: a heart that gives faithfully matters more than the spreadsheet. The honest version: most people who tithe on net eventually move to gross, because once you have tasted the joy of firstfruits giving, settling for leftovers feels wrong.
Here is the longer answer.
A quick definition, because not everyone reading this has spent time in payroll.
Gross income is what you earned before anything is taken out. Total pay before taxes, before insurance, before retirement contributions, before anything.
Net income is what hits your bank account. Gross minus federal tax, state tax, Social Security, Medicare, health insurance, retirement, and any other deductions.
For a typical American household, net is roughly 70 to 80 percent of gross. The difference between tithing on gross and tithing on net is real money.
If you would rather just calculate the number than read the rest of this page, the Tithe Calculator on the homepage handles either input. Enter gross, get ten percent of gross. Enter net, get ten percent of net.
But the math is not really the question. The question is which one is faithful.
The Bible has a word for what tithing is supposed to look like. It is firstfruits.
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” (Proverbs 3:9)
“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.” (Exodus 23:19)
When ancient Israel harvested grain, olives, or grapes, they did not pay their bills, their merchants, and their household needs first, then bring God whatever was left over. They brought the first basket. The earliest pick. Before they knew if the rest of the harvest would even come in.
That is not a math choice. It is a theology choice. Firstfruits says God comes first. Not first after taxes. Not first after rent. First. Period.
Applied to a paycheck in the modern world, firstfruits points to gross income.
Three reasons most pastors and teachers point to gross.
1. Gross is what you actually earned. The taxes and deductions taken out of your paycheck are still your income. The government takes its share. Your insurance takes its share. Your retirement plan takes its share. But you earned all of it. Tithing on gross says, Lord, I am giving you ten percent of what you provided, not ten percent of what is left after everyone else takes their cut.
2. Net puts the government before God. When you tithe on net, you are giving God ten percent of what is left after the government has taken its share first. That is not firstfruits. That is leftover-fruits. The government got the firstfruits. God got the rest.
3. Ancient Israel did not have payroll taxes, and they still gave from the top. Israelite farmers had real costs: seed, labor, animals, storehouse fees, occasional tribute. They did not deduct any of that before bringing the tithe. They brought from the top. The biblical pattern is consistent: give first, trust God with the rest.
If you want a one-line rule of thumb: tithe on what you earned, not on what was left after the government took its cut.
To be fair, here are the arguments for tithing on net.
“I never see that money. It is taxed before it ever reaches me.” True. You also never see the part that goes into your 401(k) automatically, but that does not mean it is not yours. The fact that money is withheld for taxes does not make it not income. Tax-withheld dollars are dollars you earned.
“I do not have a choice about the taxes. They are taken automatically.” Also true. But that is a question about what is taken from you, not about what you should give. The point of the tithe is not to give what feels easy. It is to bring the first share back to God in trust.
“Ten percent of gross is more than I can do right now.” This is a real reason, and it is worth saying clearly: God is not going to reject your worship because you tithed on net. He sees the widow’s two coins (Luke 21:1-4) and the cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) long before He sees the percentage point. If net is your starting place, start there. But aim for gross. Most Christians who keep growing in generosity end up there.
“My church teaches net.” Few do, in my experience, but some do. If your pastor has taught net specifically, ask him why. Then read Malachi 3, Proverbs 3, and Matthew 23:23 and decide for yourself.
Things get more complicated when your income does not come on a clean W-2 with a clear gross.
Self-employed. Your business has real expenses. You buy materials, pay for software, drive for client meetings. The biblical principle is firstfruits on your income, not your revenue. Tithe on what you earned (revenue minus legitimate business expenses), before personal taxes, before health insurance, before retirement. Many self-employed Christians do this quarterly when they reconcile their books.
Side income. If you mow lawns on Saturdays or sell prints on Etsy, tithe on the income from that work. Same rule as a paycheck. Gross of personal taxes.
Bonuses, tax refunds, and windfalls. Tithe on bonuses (they are part of your gross income for the year). For tax refunds, see Should I Tithe on My Tax Return? — most pastors say no, because you already tithed on that money when you earned it.
Investment income. Tithe on the gains. If your portfolio grew by $5,000, tithe on $5,000, not on the full balance.
Rental income. Tithe on net rental income (rent collected minus legitimate property expenses like mortgage interest, repairs, and insurance). Same logic as self-employed.
Let us run a couple of real numbers.
Example 1: Single, $60,000 salary, no other income.
Example 2: Married couple, $120,000 household, two kids.
Numbers will vary based on your state, your benefits, and your situation. The Tithe Calculator lets you run yours.
This is the honest tension. For some households, ten percent of gross is hard. Ten percent of net feels barely doable. Twelve percent feels impossible.
Two things to hold together.
First, the tithe is a starting point of obedience, not a performance benchmark. God is not grading you against a denomination-wide rubric. He sees your heart.
Second, the test in Malachi 3:10 is real. “Test me in this,” says the Lord. People who start tithing routinely report that the math should not have worked, and somehow it did. That is not a prosperity-gospel pitch. It is the testimony of God’s people across centuries. Ninety percent really does, somehow, go further than a hundred.
If gross is too big a leap right now, start with net. Pray. Trust. See what God does. Then revisit in six months and consider moving up.
Use the Tithe Calculator to figure your tithe on either gross or net. It works for any pay frequency: weekly, biweekly, twice a month, monthly, or annually.
If you are still working through whether tithing applies to Christians at all, see Is Tithing Biblical for Christians Today?. If you want a step-by-step on how to set it up, see How to Calculate Your Tithe. And for the foundational case, start with What Is a Tithe?.
The first ten percent says God comes first. Bring it from the top.