expense

(ĭk-spĕns')
n.

1. 1. Something spent to attain a goal or accomplish a purpose: an expense of time and energy on the project.
   2. A loss for the sake of something gained; a sacrifice: achieved speed at the expense of accuracy.
2. An expenditure of money; a cost: an improvement that was well worth the expense; a trip with all expenses paid.
3. expenses
   1. Charges incurred by an employee in the performance of work: was reimbursed for her travel expenses.
   2. Informal. Money allotted for payment of such charges.
4. Something requiring the expenditure of money: Redecorating the house will be a considerable expense.
5. Archaic. The act of expending.

tr.v., -pensed, -pens·ing, -pens·es.

1. To charge with expenses.
2. To write off as an expense.

idiom:

at (one's) expense

1. To one's detriment or chagrin: telling jokes at my expense.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin (pecūnia) expēnsa, (money) paid out, feminine past participle of expendere, to pay out. See expend.]

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1. business cost incurred in operating and maintaining property. For purposes of information and in reporting to shareholders of publicly held corporations, expenses are calculated as the cost of goods and services used in the process of profit-directed business activities.


2. costs that are currently deductible, as opposed to capital expenditures, which may not be currently deducted but must be depreciated or amortized over the useful life of the property. Certain costs may be expensed for accounting purposes but may not be deductible or may be deductible later for tax purposes (goodwill, for example, and bad debts under the allowance method). Other costs may be tax deductible earlier than for accounting purposes (such as intangible drilling costs).

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Costs of maintaining property.
See financing expenses, operating expenses.

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noun

1. Something expended to obtain a benefit or desired result: cost, disbursement, expenditure, outlay. See transactions.
2. A loss sustained in the accomplishment of or as the result of something: cost, price, sacrifice, toll¹. See transactions.

n

Definition: cost
Antonyms: payment

Costs that are currently deductible as opposed to capital expenditures which may not be currently deducted but which either must be depreciated or amortized over the useful life of the property, or which may not be deducted at all.


lobbying expense
those incurred in promoting or evaluating legislation.
The Revenue Act of 1993 provides that no deduction is allowed as a

trade or business expense
for any amount paid or incurred in connection with the influencing legislation. (IRC §162(e)(a)(A) as amended by 1993 Act §13222(a)).
Under pre-1993 Act law, the taxpayer was allowed a deduction for certain expenses (including travel expenses, costs of preparing testimony and a portion of dues) paid in carrying on a trade or business if the expenses were in direct connection with: (1) appearances before, submitting statements to, or sending communications to Congress or any legislative body regarding legislation or proposed legislation of direct interest to the taxpayer, or (2) communications or information between taxpayer and an organization of which he or she was a member relating to legislation or proposed legislation of direct interest to the taxpayer and the organization. Expenses relating to the participation in or intervention in any political campaign or attempts to influence the general public on legislative matters were not deductible.
The 1993 Act does not affect deductions for costs of attempting to influence a regulatory or administrative agency with respect to its rules and regulations, since administrative regulations are not legislation.


medical expense
a deduction allowed to a taxpayer for amounts actually expended during the taxable year for diagnoses, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease or affecting any structure or function of the body and associated transportation costs. However, such deduction is only allowed to the extent it exceeds 7 1 ⁄ 2 percent of adjusted gross income. Moreover, expenses for medicine and drugs are allowed as a deduction only if the latter must be obtained by prescription or if insulin is used. IRC §213.


moving expense
deduction allowed to a taxpayer for the reasonable expenses of moving his or her residence from one location to another if such move meets certain specified technical requirements regarding distance moved and length of stay. IRC §217.


organization expense
deduction allowed to a newly formed corporation may deduct the costs of organizing the corporation over a period of not less than five years if such costs are paid or incurred before the end of the first taxable year in which the corporation commences business. IRC §248. Similarly, a partnership may deduct the amounts paid or incurred in organizing the partnership or in promoting the sale of an interest in the partnership, over a period of not less than five years. IRC §709.


personal expense
in general, a personal living or family expense is not allowable as a deduction from gross income. IRC §262. Certain expenses, however, such as mortgage interest, certain taxes, bad debts, medical expenses, and charitable contributions are deductible if the taxpayer itemizes his or her deductions.
trade or business expense deduction allowed to a taxpayer for all “ordinary and necessary” expenses incurred with respect to the taxpayer’s trade or business. IRC §162.

1. The economic costs that a business incurs through its operations to earn revenue. In order to maximize profits, businesses must attempt to reduce expenses without also cutting into revenues. Because expenses are such an important indicator of a business's operations, there are specific accounting rules on expense recognition.
 
2. Money spent or costs incurred that are tax-deductible and reduce taxable income.

Investopedia Says:
1. Expenses are the opposite of revenues. Examples of expenses include payments to suppliers, employee wages, factory leases and depreciation.

2. Tax authorities frequently have very specific regulations that allow people to deduct certain expenses if used for business-related activities. For example, a traveling salesperson is allowed to deduct traveling expenses (fuel expenses and car rental costs) as a business deduction, because those costs are an integral part of the job.

Related Links:
Learn this easy-to-understand technique of analyzing a company's financial statements and reports. Introduction To Fundamental Analysis
Learn how to use revenue and expenses, among other factors, to break down and analyze a company. Understanding The Income Statement
Appreciate the different methods used to describe how book value is "used up". Depreciation: Straight-Line Vs. Double-Declining Methods
Blood, sweat and tears should belong in the gym, but your money deserves some training time too. Get Your Budget In Fighting Shape
Although where you live affects your expenses, how you save is a personal choice. How Do Your Finances Stack Up?

For a list of words related to expensing, see:

• Income Tax - expensing: taking entire cost of depreciable asset as expense in year of purchase

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See words rhyming with "expense."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Expense.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - udgift, godtgørelse, bekostning
v. tr. - udgiftsføre

idioms:

• at the expense of    på bekostning af
• expense account    repræsentationskonto, udgiftskonto
• go to the expense of    sætte sig i udgift for

Nederlands (Dutch)
onkosten, uitgave, aftrekpost, onkostenvergoeding, iets wat geld/energie kost, opoffering, onkosten laten vergoeden, het op de onkostenrekening zetten, als onkosten opschrijven

Français (French)
n. - frais, dépenses, charge, débours, (Jur) frais, (fig) aux dépens de, au détriment de, aux crochets de, au prix de
v. tr. - faire payer/passer en frais

idioms:

• at the expense of    aux dépens de, aux frais de
• expense account    (Comm) frais de représentation, note de frais
• go to great expense    s'engager/se lancer dans de grosses dépenses, faire beaucoup de frais
• go to the expense of    faire la dépense de

Deutsch (German)
n. - Spesen, Kosten, Ausgabe
v. - von der Steuer absetzen

idioms:

• at the expense of    auf Kosten
• expense account    Spesenkonto
• go to great expense    sich in große Unkosten stürzen
• go to the expense of    für etwas viel Geld bezahlen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - έξοδα/-ο, δαπάνες/-η, (οικονομική) επιβάρυνση, βάρος, ακρίβεια

idioms:

• at the expense of    εις βάρος του, δαπάναις, με (οικονομική) επιβάρυνση του, με θυσία, με αντίτιμο
• expense account    (οικον.) (λογαριασμός για) έξοδα παραστάσεως
• go to the expense of    μπαίνω στα έξοδα να

Italiano (Italian)
spesa, spese

idioms:

• at the expense of    a spese di
• at the expense of someone/something    alle spese di
• expense account    conto spese
• go to the expense of    andare alle spese di

Português (Portuguese)
n. - custo (m), gasto (m)

idioms:

• at the expense of    às expensas de
• at the expense of someone/something    às expensas de alguém
• expense account    conta de despesa
• go to the expense of    lançar às expensas de

Русский (Russian)
расходы, траты, затраты

idioms:

• at the expense of    за счет
• at the expense of someone/something    за счет кого/чего-нибудь
• expense account    отчет о расходах
• go to the expense of    выделить средства на что-либо

Español (Spanish)
n. - gasto, costa, expensas
v. tr. - gastar, costar

idioms:

• at the expense of    a costa de, a expensas de
• expense account    cuenta de gastos de representación
• go to great expense    llegar a costa de
• go to the expense of    meterse a gastar en

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - utgift, kostnad

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
费用, 损失, 代价, 向...收取费用, 把...记入费用帐, 把...作为开支勾销

idioms:

• at the expense of    归...付费, 在损害...的情况下
• expense account    费用账户
• go to the expense of    为...的目的花钱

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 費用, 損失, 代價
v. tr. - 向...收取費用, 把...記入費用帳, 把...作為開支勾銷

idioms:

• at the expense of    歸...付費, 在損害...的情況下
• expense account    費用賬戶
• go to the expense of    為...的目的花錢

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 지출, 손실
v. tr. - 비용의 항목을 과세 수입에 대한 비용으로 상쇄하다

idioms:

• at the expense of    ~의 비용을 부담하고
• go to the expense of    막대한 비용을 들이다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 支出, 出費, 費用, 消費, 経費, 所要経費, 犠牲, 出費のかかるもの

idioms:

• at the expense of    費用を負担して, 犠牲にして
• at the expense of someone/something    ～を犠牲にして
• expense account    費用勘定, その金, 交際費
• go to the expense of    金を使う

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نفقه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הוצאה, מחיר‬
v. tr. - ‮רשם כהוצאה‬

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