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This is exactly how many conservative Americans think our tax system works (it doesn't work like that at all). Republican politicians and their henchmen like Ru
by sidlls 7y ago
This is exactly how many conservative Americans think our tax system works (it doesn't work like that at all). Republican politicians and their henchmen like Rush Limbaugh played that up for years during the 90s to help keep the anti-government anger stoked. Whenever they were called on it they hedged back to some weak argument about having to work twice as hard for each marginal dollar being a disincentive.
- ummonk 7y agoOur tax system does not work this way (because we have marginal tax rates, not overall tax rats), but welfare programs (which are often binary - either you get it or you don't) do end up having this effect for many people.
- sethammons 7y agoI don't understand the downvotes. I have friends who have turned down more work/pay because of it pushing them to the next tax bracket. They think that that would _lower_ their overall take home. They seem to not understand that it is a marginal rate. If they felt that the effort vs reward was not valuable, that makes sense. But they think they will actually lose money. Maybe I'm the one missing something.
- Frondo 7y agoYou aren't missing anything, there's a ton of misunderstanding around marginal tax rates; confusion that directly benefits the tax-cuts-over-all subset of American political actors.
- TrackerFF 7y agoNo, it's a completely widespread tactic and misinformation (how tax brackets work), not only in the US, but elsewhere too. I'm in Norway, and have heard the exact same things. People that turn down extra work, because they're certain that the said OT pay is getting bumped into the next tax bracket, and they'll net LESS than if they had not worked at all.