Tithing Question: I own a small business. It's a corporation. I started to pay my tithe out of my check. My question is: is my company expected to pay tithe too? I just took over this company. It has bills that are waiting to be paid. I'm just curious to know what is our stand on small business as Bible believers.
Answer: Many Adventists who own a business pay their tithe and “Promise” offering (regular and systematic offering) from the “pro-labore” salary that they receive from their own company.
Then, annually, when they pay taxes, they can check if there was profit or losses in their business during that whole year. They do not do it monthly because the financial result of a company may be variable from month to month, in some months gaining something, but in other months sustaining heavy losses.
Therefore, at the end of the fiscal year, they are able to see if the business made some profit or not, after paying all the expenses related to running the business. If there was profit, they tithe and give their regular and systematic offerings (“Promise”) from that company’s profit.
The Bible says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9). So, if there was no increase at the end of the year, those business owners will still keep returning the tithe from their “pro-labore” salary, but not from the business itself.
In the book “Model Steward Canvas”, by Dr. Ken Long, there is a chapter with additional information about this subject. This book may be freely downloaded from the GC Stewardship Ministries Website.
Marcos Faiock Bomfim
Director
GC Stewardship Ministries
