Pay-as-you-go

Posted by R. Berg on April 20, 2001

In Reply to: Pay-as-you-go posted by catherine leroy-jay on April 19, 2001

: Does pay-as-you-go mean some thing like pay-per-view, though not strictly related to movies (view), or should I use something like pay-per-use (e.g. a service on the Internet)? What is the right expression ?

I believe "pay as you go" means that payments are due at intervals over the time that a customer is using a service, as opposed to a large lump-sum payment due at the end. (At least, the Internal Revenue Service (U.S.) uses the term in a publication explaining why people whose withholding doesn't cover their income tax must pay estimated tax quarterly on their current income rather than waiting until next April and paying the tax for the previous year all at once.) This isn't the same thing as paying a fee for each use. The correct expression depends on what business arrangement you want to describe. Not my field--maybe somebody more knowledgeable will chime in.