How Getting A Raise Affects Your Taxes

Photo: M 93

You’ve finally received a hard-earned raise. Unfortunately, that raise has bumped you into the next tax bracket.

Does that mean you should tell your employer you don’t want the raise after all? If all of your income is going to be taxed at a higher rate, with your new raise, you’re actually going to take home a smaller paycheck. Right?

Fortunately, this statement isn’t true, but it’s a common misconception about how our progressive federal income tax system works. While people are taxed at higher rates when they earn higher levels of employment income, only a portion of their income, not all of their income, is taxed at the higher rate.

Take a look at how the system works in my article, How Getting A Raise Affects Your Taxes, at Forbes.com.

Comments

Miiockm said…
I wish more people would understand this. I can't believe how many people believe that all of their income is taxed in the highest bracket.

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