R’ Dovid Feinstein said that he feels that Maaser is something that has to actually come out of my pocket. He therefore felt that I could not count the time as Maaser unless I charged them & then returned the money
Is that because it literally has to come out of pocket, and if someone was moichel his salary to a mosad (as in dz’s example) it would not be ma’aser? Or is it because if he wasn’t offered a salary, then it’s not considered as if he’s given money?
I would think the latter.
What seems most logical to me is that one could only deduct work as ma’aser if he actually could have received compensation.