Meaning & use
non-taxable income
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Meanings
noununcountable
Money that you receive but do not have to pay tax on.
Grammar: Uncountable: say 'non-taxable income', not 'a non-taxable income' or 'non-taxable incomes'.
Patterns
- receive non-taxable income
- be classed as non-taxable income
Gifts from family members are generally considered non-taxable income.
The report separates taxable earnings from non-taxable income such as certain benefits.
noununcountabletechnical
A type or source of earnings that is free from tax, considered as a category.
Grammar: Used in tax and accounting contexts to talk about categories of money, not individual payments.
Patterns
- treat something as non-taxable income
- exclude non-taxable income from a total
The accountant listed non-taxable income separately from salary.
For tax purposes, the scholarship was treated as non-taxable income.
Common combinations
- non-taxable income
- She receives non-taxable income from a small inheritance.
- taxable income
- Taxable income is the amount used to calculate your tax bill.
- source of income
- Rental payments are a common source of income.
- declare income
- You must declare all income, even non-taxable income, on the form.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tax-exempt income
- Very similar, but 'tax-exempt' often refers to income that is legally excluded from tax, while 'non-taxable' can also describe income that simply falls below a threshold.
- tax-free income
- Common in everyday speech, especially for payments like some allowances; 'non-taxable' is more formal and technical.
Opposites
Word family
- non-taxable adjective
- Describing something that is not subject to tax.
- taxable adjective
- Describing something that must be taxed.
Commonly confused: non-taxable income or tax-free?
non-taxable income vs tax-free
Tax-free usually means no tax is charged at the point of sale (e.g., a tax-free shop), while non-taxable income is money you receive that is not counted for tax.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'non-taxable income' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Non-taxable income' is uncountable, so it cannot take 'a' or be used in the plural. Option D correctly defines it as money you do not pay tax on. Option A uses 'a' incorrectly; option B uses a plural verb with an uncountable noun; option C suggests all teachers earn such income, which is not what the term means.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-taxable income”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.