earned income

Earned income

Compensation earned from employment, which includes wages, salary, tips, and compensation.

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Earned Income

Income from salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, and any other source related to the work one does. Earned income specifically excludes income from investments. Earned income is taxed at one's regular income tax rate. See also: Marginal tax rate.

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

earned income

Individual income, such as commissions, salaries, and bonuses, that is derived as compensation for personal services. Compare unearned income.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

Earned income.

Earned income is pay you receive for work you perform, and includes salaries, wages, tips, and professional fees.

Your earned income is included in your gross income, along with unearned income from interest, dividends, and capital gains. If you have earned income, you're eligible to contribute to an individual retirement account (IRA).

Dictionary of Financial Terms. Copyright © 2008 Lightbulb Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

earned income

that part of a person's income earned from employment or self-employment (WAGES, SALARIES, FEES. COMMISSIONS and PROFITS). By contrast unearned income derives from the ownership of assets (interest and dividends from investment, rents from property, etc.) or can take the form of unemployment benefits, old age pensions, etc. See INCOME.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson

earned income

the return accruing to LABOUR for work done. The distinction between earned and unearned INCOME is made by the INLAND REVENUE for ease of assessment and collection of INCOME TAX. Earned income comprises WAGES, SALARIES, FEES, COMMISSION and PROFITS attributable to sole proprietors and partners within partnerships. Unearned income, by contrast, is primarily the return accruing to NATURAL RESOURCES and CAPITAL in the form of rental income, DIVIDENDS or INTEREST received. Earned income is generally taxed progressively, commencing with a tax-free income band and progressively increasing the rate of TAXATION in predetermined bands of income as income increases.

The distinction between earned and unearned income is not a valid one in economics as all FACTORS OF PRODUCTION can be said to ‘earn’ income. Even from the taxation authorities'view, the distinction has been controversial, the argument being put forward that unearned income is the result of investing from the SAVINGS of income previously earned. See INCIDENCE OF TAXATION, PROGRESSIVE TAXATION.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005

Earned Income

Earned income is income for services rendered as distinguished from income generated by property or other sources. Earned income includes amounts received as wages, tips, bonuses, other employee compensation, and self-employment income, whether in the form of money, services, or property. The definition of earned income is not the same for all income tax provisions. For example, alimony is treated as earned income only for purposes of determining how much an individual can contribute to an IRA.

Copyright © 2008 H&R Block. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission from H&R Block Glossary