两者都有减少纳税金额的含义。区别在于tax credit (税额直接减让）是指在计算出某人应付税额之后，从其总额中扣除按规定应予减让部分的款额，减25元则少25元税费。而tax deduction (税额间接减让）则是指在计算纳税税额之前从某人的总收入（gross income)中减除某些款额，如在计算应税所得时在总收入中减去业务支出、生产成本等，然后再根据由此计算出的应税所得计算税额，减25元则不会直接少25元税费。由此，从某种意义上讲，tax credit的价值应高于tax deduction的价值[1]。tax exemption则是“免税”，其是按人头（on a per capita basis)减免的税收，与tax credit和tax deduction差异较大[2]。

[1]“A credit differs from a deduction in the following essential respect：It is subtracted after the total tax liability has been calculated，whereas a deduction is subtracted from the income subject to tax. Thus, a tax credit of a given amount is more valuable to a tax payer than a deduction of the same amount . ”Cf. Douglas Greenwald，The Concise McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Modern Economics, 3rd edition, at p. 348 , McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1983). "tax credit：An amount subtracted directly from one's total liability，dollar for dollar, as opposed to a deduction from gross income. ”Cf. Bryan A. Gamer, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition, at p. 1473, West Group (1999).

[2] Cf. Douglas Greenwald, The Concise McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Modern Economics, 3rd edition, at p. 350.

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