Expert: Griff Ruby - 10/16/2011

Question
what percentage of tithe does the catholic church as the faithful to pay. Pls support your answer with Scripture and cannon law. i know of Can. 222 §1 i need more...

thank you God bless you

Answer
The tithe was originated by the Hebrew nation (though apparently other nations around them at the time were also doing likewise), and became officially inscribed in the Law of Moses.  This was for more than merely the priests, but for the maintenance of the nation, its Temple, King and palace, army, and so forth.  In effect, the tithe was the state tax of the nation of Israel.  The specific Law of the tithe went out with the remainder of the Mosaic Law with the coming of the New Covenant.
The Church Hierarchical, however, does have the right to exact a (reasonable) amount, as determined by law or lawful procedures, of its Faithful to serve as its operating expenses, from feeding priests and religious to physical repair and construction of the buildings to the costs of sending missionaries or operating schools and hospitals or feeding the poor etc.  Because much of this is actually supported by the donations of individual Catholics, oftentimes the amount mandated at a particular time or place may vary, though only most rarely (if at all) ever exceed the original Biblical ten percent, and often rest a a much smaller figure.
It is obligatory for the individual Catholic to support the Church in proportion to his own means, so a person with twice as much money (beyond directly immediate expenses of food and shelter etc.) would give twice as much, and so forth.  Those so poor that it was all they could do to physicially survive would owe nothing.
There are about three basic kinds of financial giving/support for the Church that I can think of, namely (1) tithes proper, which may typically be actually something more like 2 to 5 percent of their income, given particular law in any particular area, diocese, or parish; (2) donations, given freely whenever collections are taken, above and beyond and outside any obligatory tithes and stipends; (3) stipends, which are a kind of fee for a specific service from the Church for an individual such as weddings or funerals or Masses to be said at a personal request.  All obligations for tithes and stipends can be reduced or waived entirely for cases of poverty; donations are never required but merely encouraged.  Also in cases where a person may be poor but able-bodied, practical works around the Church such as gardening or cleaning might also be substituted for finacial payment, at the discretion of the cleric in charge of the facility.
There are many and complex detailed rules as to how any such monies collected are to be used within the Church, and who gets them for what purposes.  But there is no evidence that Canon Law ever establishes any particular percentage that the laity are obliged to pay, even as a recommendation or example.  In practice, an individual bishop may either impose specific a rate for all his priests or else leave the rate at the discretion of his individual priests.  In short, one should ask one's priest what rate, if any, is expected within a given parish.  There is no "magic number" beyond whatever is local policy that is required or expected.  As a piece of practical advice, I would regard any figure of greater than ten percent as being "in need of justification" for example for some specific local and immediate emergency need.
There is quite some further reading available at:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03761b.htm
This should provide as much as could be needed, hope this helps, God bless!