Aftrekking

Aftrekking is a Dutch noun that refers to the act of subtracting or deducting an amount from a total, or the withdrawal of funds or resources. It is formed from the verb aftrekken, meaning to pull away, subtract, or withdraw. In practice the term appears most often in formal or legal texts; in everyday language the related term aftrek is more common for tax or accounting deductions.

In arithmetic and accounting, aftrekking denotes the subtraction operation, such as subtracting a discount or a fee from a bill or reducing a gross amount to a net amount. In financial and tax contexts, the concept is typically expressed with aftrek (deduction) rather than aftrekking, as in hypotheekrenteaftrek (mortgage interest deduction) or giftenaftrek (donation deduction). Aftrekking in legal documents may refer to the deduction of costs or liabilities from an amount, or to the reduction of a claim.

In other contexts, aftrekking can also imply withdrawal or redeployment, such as the withdrawal of funds from a reserve or the withdrawal of troops, though this sense is more commonly written as aftrek in modern Dutch.

The term derives from aftrekken, and related terms include aftrekpost (deduction item) and belastingaftrek (tax deduction). The precise meaning of aftrekking depends on domain and phrasing, but it generally centers on removing or reducing an amount from a larger total.