The higher tax bracket only applies to the additional dollars earned, so mathematically it can't penalize you when you make more money (I'm assuming you are usi

The higher tax bracket only applies to the additional dollars earned, so mathematically it can't penalize you when you make more money (I'm assuming you are using "penalize" to mean "you take home less overall pay"). And you have to make about 50K (factoring in the 12K standard deduction) for that to happen. At that point, you should be using some of the extra money to dump into a 401(k) plan, which comes "off the top" for tax purposes. So 10% in 401(k) means you have to hit 55K before the additional funds start to diminish returns.