Retenció

Retenció is a Catalan term that denotes the act of keeping something, detaining it, or withholding. It is used across different fields to describe the taking, preserving, or withholding of an object, payment, or information, and it can refer to both temporary and intentional retention.

In finance and taxation, retenció most commonly refers to withholding tax. This is an amount deducted at source from payments such as wages, professional fees, interest, or dividends and remitted to the tax authority. The withheld sum acts as an advance payment toward the recipient’s eventual tax liability and is reconciled when filing the annual return. Rates and rules vary by jurisdiction and income type.

In contracts and regulatory contexts, retenció can describe the retention of funds, performance bonds, or other assets until specified conditions are met or disputes are resolved. This mechanism is used to guarantee compliance, ensure delivery, or protect against non-performance.

In medicine, retenció commonly denotes urinary retention, a condition in which the bladder cannot empty properly. It may be acute or chronic and can cause symptoms such as a reduced urine stream, distress or lower abdominal discomfort. It requires medical assessment to determine the underlying cause and appropriate treatment.

The term also appears in other areas, including marketing, where retenció de clients (customer retention) refers to strategies aimed at keeping existing customers, and in environmental or natural sciences, where retenció d’aigua describes the retention of water in soils, reservoirs, or ecosystems. Retenció thus covers a broad set of concepts centered on keeping, withholding, or preserving.