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Maaser from Gift Certificate

Do you have to give maaser on a gift certificate received from the boss?

Answer:

Some are stringent for this matter, and it is good to give maaser from the gift certificate, though the obligation is not entire clear.

Please see below for more.

Sources:

Halachic authorities dispute whether maaser must be taken from gifts other than money. The Chazon Ish (quoted in Derech Emunah, Matnos Ani’im 7:27) ruled that there is no obligation of separating maaser.

The reason for this is that maaser is only a quantification of the mitzvah of giving charity, and there is no obligation to sell one’s possessions in order to give charity (Orchos Rabbeinu, vol. 1, p. 396). In the light of this explanation, somebody who sells the gifts he was given would be obligated to separate maaser from the income he receives, but there is no obligation to give maaser from the gifts themselves.

Although most authorities follow the ruling of the Chazon Ish, it is noteworthy that Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach disputed this, and ruled that even non-monetary gifts are obligated in separating maaser.

However, the Chut Hashani (Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed, p. 351) rules that if one receives supermarket vouchers, which can be used for buying many different products, one is obligated to separate maaser. Due to the purchasing power of these vouchers, they are considered (in this opinion) as money, which is obligated in maaser.

Therefore, it is good to be stringent in this matter (some also obligate for regular gifts), though it is not clear that there is a full obligation.

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