adjective
de minimis
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De minimis (adjective) means Too small or trivial to be worth taking into account, especially in law, tax and accounting, where amounts below a set threshold are ignored. Example: “The auditors treated the discrepancy as de minimis and moved on.”
adjective
1
Too small or trivial to be worth taking into account, especially in law, tax and accounting, where amounts below a set threshold are ignored.
"The auditors treated the discrepancy as de minimis and moved on."
"Imports below the de minimis value enter without duty."
noun
1
A threshold below which a rule, tax or reporting duty does not apply.
"The government lowered the de minimis for parcel imports to eight hundred dollars."
How to use de minimis
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSo small that the rules just ignore it.
When to use it
Formal and largely technical: law, tax, customs, compliance and accounting.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
de minimis threshold
de minimis exemption
de minimis amount
de minimis rule
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Etymology
From the legal maxim de minimis non curat lex, 'the law does not concern itself with trifles'.
Frequently asked questions
What does a de minimis threshold mean in practice?
It is a cut-off point below which something is officially ignored. A parcel worth less than the de minimis value, for example, passes through customs without duty or a formal declaration.
Is de minimis the same as immaterial?
They overlap. Immaterial is the accountant's word for an amount too small to change anyone's judgement; de minimis is the lawyer's word for an amount a rule deliberately disregards. De minimis usually implies a stated numerical threshold.
What is the meaning of de minimis?
"de minimis" (adjective) means too small or trivial to be worth taking into account, especially in law, tax and accounting, where amounts below a set threshold are ignored.
What are the different meanings of de minimis?
"de minimis" has 2 main meanings: 1. Too small or trivial to be worth taking into account, especially in law, tax and accounting, where amounts below a set threshold are ignored; 2. A threshold below which a rule, tax or reporting duty does not apply.
