Question: I give $1000 to an organization via credit card. Credit card charges $25 as a processing fee. So the organization receives $975. Assume I pay my card in full and my credit card rewards me with $10. What’s my effective maaser in that scenario? A follow up, I assume I’ll need to pay a maaser from the reward from my credit card – in that scenario – $1?

Answer: 1. Every time you donate to tzedaka by using a credit card, the tzedaka will only end up getting a percentage of the actual funds. It’s still considered as though you gave full maaser. However, it’s obviously better to give them a direct wire or a check which usually means that the tzedaka will receive more (unless you are giving it to them via a fundraiser which usually will take a “larger slice” than the small credit card fee… )

2. Correct. You now owe additional maaser for the value of those points.

843