Degressive

Degressive is an adjective used to describe a pattern in which a quantity, rate, or effect decreases as the underpinning base, input, or time increases. It connotes a diminishing intensity or value and is found in several disciplines, including economics, accounting, and public finance. The term derives from the idea of “degressing” or stepping down.

In taxation, a degressive tax is one in which the percentage rate declines as the tax base grows. In practice, this means that higher amounts trigger lower marginal or average rates, a structure often described as regressive in common usage. Degressive taxes tend to be controversial because they can place a larger relative burden on lower-income groups. Tax systems may be described as progressive, proportional, regressive, or degressive depending on how rates change with the base.

In accounting and finance, degressive depreciation (also called declining-balance depreciation) allocates larger depreciation expenses in earlier years of an asset’s life and smaller amounts in later years. This approach reflects the rapid loss of value or utility that often occurs when an asset is new or recently acquired, and it contrasts with straight-line depreciation, which allocates the same amount each year.

Degressive can also appear in other contexts to indicate decreasing intensity or magnitude, such as models that exhibit degressive growth or curves that decline more steeply at first and level off over time. The exact interpretation depends on the field and the specific mechanism governing the decline.