Many of us feel the pressure to make a contribution to our local religious institution. How much to give is not just a question of household income, but household expenses. Are you ranking the family vacation higher than your religious institution?

For the Jewish community, this is the time of year when everybody is paying their annual dues — a requirement at most synagogues if one wants a ticket to religious services for the Jewish New Year this weekend.

“Dues are important because they are the key for the synagogue to be able to run,” says Bernie Farber, chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress.

Where it gets tricky is some congregations base your membership fees on your household income — there are written guidelines. But different families have different expenses. What about the family with a special-needs child? Or the couple paying for the care of an elderly parent?

But religious institutions have real costs too. It costs money to heat a building, keep the lights on, maintain staff and reach out to the community.

Plus, most religious institutions are doing charitable work on the side, so they are almost competing with themselves for your money.

“They do [compete] but most committed Jews know you have to belong to a synagogue. It’s almost separate and apart from what you might give to [a charity like] the United Jewish Appeal. It’s almost seen as an obligation,” says Mr. Farber, adding he’s never heard of somebody being refused membership because they couldn’t afford it.

Paul Nazareth, manager of planned giving and personal gifts with the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, said many religions have to charge an annual fee because, in addition to providing a place of worship, they are providing religious education for children.

Parishes in the Catholic dioceses raise money every week through what is officially called the Offertory but is better known as passing around the collection plate. These days, things are more sophisticated and many parishes even have an option for direct withdrawal from your bank account.

How much to give is no easy question for Catholics either. Mr. Nazareth, and the group he works with within the church, are trying to come up with guidelines.

“The same amount of time someone would spend with God on a Sunday would be the same amount someone would give back to God — an hour’s pay,” says Mr. Nazareth.

Sounds reasonable. I would venture that God should be making more than me on an hourly basis

. From a tax point of view, all contributions should be kept track of because they are tax deductible. After the first $200 donated, the federal tax credit is 29%.

The Catholic Church helps with this by providing parishioners with a coded envelope.

For whatever reason, some people, even some religions, don’t believe parishioners should take advantage of the tax break.

“People drop money in the basket and forget about it. Some people come from another country and don’t know the tax system, while others don’t realize if they put the money in a [coded] envelope that the receipt can add up to quite a bit at the end of the year,” says Mr. Nazareth.

Your local place of worship may not send you a formal invoice, but for those of us who believe in some type of higher power, it’s the one bill collector we don’t want to face.

Dusty wallet Let us wade into the world of restaurant tipping. These days, waiters come to your table with a portable credit card machine. Most of these machines have a button to click that automatically tips 15%. Fair enough, but pay attention. The 15% is on the final bill, including the tax. Do we have to tip on tax? DW is looking for input.