A debt that is written off and deemed uncollectible ( uncollectible account). Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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When a business recognizes that a debt is unlikely to be repaid, the debt is written off as an expense in the profit and loss account.
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bad debt UK US noun [C or U]
► FINANCE a debt that is not likely to be paid: »
They claimed that banks should be made to declare any bad debts they possessed.
»I had tens of thousands in bad debt.
»Over the past few quarters, hospitals have had to write off £10 million of bad debts.
»bad debt charges
Financial and business terms. 2012.