Legal Definitions - taxable

Taxable has two primary meanings in a legal context:

1. Something that is subject to a government's power to impose a tax.

• Example 1: When an individual receives a year-end bonus from their employer, that bonus is considered taxable income. This means the government has the legal authority to collect a percentage of that bonus as income tax.

• Example 2: The purchase of a new piece of furniture from a retail store is typically a taxable transaction. The buyer must pay an additional amount, known as sales tax, which is calculated as a percentage of the furniture's price and collected by the government.

• Example 3: Dividends received from investments in publicly traded companies are generally taxable. Investors must report these earnings to the tax authorities and pay taxes on them, unless specific exemptions apply.

2. In a legal dispute, certain court costs or fees that a judge can order the losing party to pay to the winning party.

• Example 1: After a successful lawsuit, the winning party might ask the court to declare their initial court filing fees and the costs associated with issuing subpoenas as taxable costs. If the judge agrees, these specific expenses would be added to the judgment, requiring the losing party to reimburse them.

• Example 2: The fees paid to a professional process server to formally deliver legal documents to the opposing party could be considered taxable costs. This means the judge could include these service fees in the final order, making the losing side responsible for paying them to the winning side.

• Example 3: While not always the case, the cost of obtaining certified copies of documents from a government agency for use as evidence in a trial might be deemed taxable. A judge could then order the losing party to cover these specific document reproduction costs for the prevailing party.