cost basis

cost basis definition - finance
The purchase price of a security or physical asset that has been adjusted to subtract depreciation expense and capital gains tax payments. The cost basis is used to calculate how much capital gains tax is owed when the investment or asset is sold.

Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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