deduct

To deduct is to take an amount away from a total. Subtract, in the language of money and rules.

Tax and payroll use it constantly, so deducting expenses, deducting tax at source and points deducted from a licence are all standard. It takes from. The noun is deduction, which confusingly also means a conclusion reached by reasoning, as in Sherlock Holmes's deductions, and those two senses have nothing to do with each other. Deductible describes an expense that can be taken off your taxable income.