noun

der Freibetrag, ¨-e

tax-free allowance

Eine Summe Geld, auf die man keine Steuern zahlen muss.

Definition & meaning

A Freibetrag refers to an amount of money that is exempt from taxation or other financial levies. It is the portion of income, assets, or an inheritance upon which no tax needs to be paid.

There are two primary contexts for this term:

Tax law: This is the most common usage. It represents a specific threshold up to which income or capital is tax-free. For example, in Germany, there is a basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag ) on income tax.
Social law/debt collection: In the context of debt enforcement, this refers to the Pfändungsfreibetrag , which is the minimum amount of income or assets protected by law that a debtor is allowed to keep to cover their basic living expenses, preventing creditors from seizing it.

Grammar & Word origin

The word is a masculine compound noun consisting of two parts:

Frei: meaning "free" or "exempt."
Betrag: meaning "amount" or "sum."

Grammatically, it follows the declension of a standard masculine noun:

Nominative: der Freibetrag
Genitive: des Freibetrags (or Freibetrages)
Dative: dem Freibetrag
Accusative: den Freibetrag
Plural: die Freibeträge

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms:

Steuerfreibetrag (specifically referring to tax exemptions)
Freigrenze (though technically distinct in legal terms, as a Freigrenze means the entire amount is taxed if the limit is exceeded, whereas a Freibetrag only subjects the excess amount to tax)
Steuerbefreiung

Antonyms: