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If I am currently working at a job but take courses for a possible future job in a different field, may I deduct the expenses of the course from my maaser cheshbon?
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If I am paying for someone else’s business expenses, e.g. for them to take a course to learn a business, or donating money to a friend to help him to start a business, may I deduct this from my own maaser cheshbon?
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If that someone else is a relative i.e. my daughter, may I still deduct the expense from my own maaser cheshbon?
I apologize. There must have been some confusion here. Maybe I responded in a confusing way, or maybe something was mistakenly changed.
Here’s the correct response.
Item #1 you are asking if you can deduct the expenses for your course to further your business abilities.
The answer is yes.
Item # 2 you want to give to others money for important purposes and take from maasar.
The answer is yes. Obviously they need to be considered an Ani (poor person). If they need your money for this because they do not have it, that would mean that it’s Tzedaka.
Item # 3 if that person is a relative, it would not make a difference. If they qualify for tzedaka in this case, you can use your maasar money.
Now my father does frown upon those that have lots of money and still deduct their gifts to family members as maasar. However, I don’t think you’re referring to such a scenario.
Once again, I apologize for the confusion and I deleted all the follow-up posts to avoid further confusion. If you have any further questions on this, feel free to post a response here.
I may have misunderstood the questions initially
If your question was to deduct your child’s tuition from your own business expenses, then you are correct that it is not allowed. Paying for a child’s tuition is not a business expense, unless this child will be working for your business when he/she graduates and the purpose is to train him/her to be ready for the business.