chargeable

Chargeable is an adjective with two broad senses. In commercial, legal, and tax contexts it describes something that is subject to a charge, fee, or tax. For example, chargeable expenses are those that a business may bill to a client, and chargeable gains are profits subject to capital gains tax. In accounting, items may be flagged as chargeable to a particular project or cost center. In tax language, “chargeable” can refer to amounts that must be paid to a government, sometimes contrasted with exempt, zero-rated, or non-chargeable amounts.

In an electrical or consumer-electronics context, “chargeable” describes devices or components that can be charged with electricity, though in everyday usage “rechargeable” is more common for batteries and power packs. Chargeable devices are those that require charging to restore their energy; non-chargeable items do not have an internal energy source and cannot be charged.

Usage notes: “chargeable” is more common in British English for tax and billing contexts; “billable” is often preferred in client services to describe work that can be invoiced. The term is less frequently applied to everyday electronics, where “rechargeable” is standard. See also: billable, taxable, VAT, capital gains tax, rechargeable, battery.