Out-of-pocket expenses are direct outlays of cash which may or may not be later reimbursed.

In operating a vehicle, gasoline, parking fees and tolls are considered out-of-pocket expenses for the trip. Insurance, oil changes, and interest are not, because the outlay of cash covers expenses accrued over a longer period of time.

The services rendered and other in-kind expenses are not considered out-of-pocket expenses, nor are depreciation of capital goods or depletion.

Organizations often reimburse out-of-pocket expenses incurred on their behalf, especially expenses incurred by employees on their employers' behalf. In the United States, out-of-pocket expenses for such things as charity, medical bills, and education may be deductions on federal income taxes, according to IRS regulations.

To be out of pocket is to have expended personal resources, often unexpectedly or unfairly, at the end of some enterprise.

Since at least 1970, the phrase out of pocket has been occasionally used as a synonym for out of contact.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Health Financing

In the health care financing sector, this represents the share of the expenses that the patient or the family pay directly to the health care provider, without a third-party (insurer, or state). This usually means that the family has to bear the costs, without risk sharing or solidarity mechanisms involved, and without the possibility to spread the cost overtime.

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