pretax

adjective

pre·​tax ˌprē-ˈtaks 

variants or pre-tax

: existing before provision for taxes : before taxes are deducted

pretax earnings/profits

The most common self-directed plans, 401(k) plans, leave it up to employees to voluntarily contribute part of their pretax salary.

—Ellen E. Schultz

Examples of pretax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Roth conversions transfer pretax IRA funds to a Roth IRA, which starts future tax-free growth. —Kate Dore, Cfp®, Ea, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2025

Elsewhere in the manufacturing segment, the building and consumer products groups accounted for the decline in pretax income. —Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2025

Tyler Perry officially joined the billionaires club in September 2020, when Forbes reported that the entertainment mogul had earned more than $1.4 billion in pretax income since 2005. —Diane J. Cho, People.com, 28 June 2025

In 2023, 54% of all renters spent more than 30% of their pretax income on housing. —Alex Schwartz, The Conversation, 26 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pretax

• attacks
• backpacks
• beeswax
• borax
• callbacks
• carfax
• climax
• cutbacks
• drawbacks
• feedbacks
• flashbacks
• greenbacks

Legal Definition

pretax

adjective

pre·​tax

ˌprē-ˈtaks

: existing or occurring before the assessment or deduction of taxes

pretax income

pretax contributions