To think there was no point in my getting this promotion? Tax related

[justfoundout2014]

I am no doubt being utterly ridiculous, and this is not entirely unexpected, but having just had my first payslip following a promotion, I am taken aback by how little difference it has made. The pay increase was between £5000-6000 and that translates to £100 per month. I have paid £40-£60 a month more NI, tax and pension.

AIBU to think it was hardly worth it? My new role has considerable more responsibility, meaning more work to be done at home and therefore less time leftover, and for very little increase. Of course the extra money is great, but is not really going to make a huge difference, especially when compared to the difference in workload.

What is really depressing is that this is as good as it gets - there will be no point in my going for any more promotions, or even the next level of the pay scale, as I would lose my CB, making me worse off . As a newly single parent, this seems grossly unfair and a little sickening.

I know I am vey lucky compared to some, but I do a professional job with a serious level of responsibility attached, and it is now clear that I am going to have to spend the rest of my life, well, not struggling, but 'watching the pennies', not going abroad, having to say 'no' a lot to the dc etc

Anyway, a very self-pitying post, but seeing it in black and white today has given me a jolt.

Try this to check:
www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Take-home-pay-calculator-for-teachers-6033382/

Greengrow - I totally agree with you. I went for a promotion 9 months ago and whoopee do, got it. It meant a move to a higher scale and some pay increase.

First month after pay rise, the salary I received was lower than I received before!!!! And last month, received a letter from hmrc saying I owe them tax. Reason being I did some extra work for another company (small money, like £200) and long story short, I've had to give up 50% because of my current salary. So all that effort of at least 8hours on that day, plus prep work, worked out to less than minimum wage. Yes they paid for my transport but hey, I had to pay for petrol and the wear and tear of my car.

I did that extra work because it would be beneficial for my cv, add to my skills and well, I was curious. At the end, getting £70 for travel and £100 for 20hours of work was pointless. I don't think I will be bothering again.

In my area of work, there is however a need for these externals to come in to validate what each other do.. So for example, I've had to ask another senior person to come and validate someone's work and thankfully he's agreed. But he's doing it more out of interest, not because of what he can potentially earn off my institution.

There is indeed no motivation at all for people who supposedly are 'middle class salaried' and hitting the higher tax threshold to continue to improve, go higher, etc because we don't see it at all in our pay... And we get hammered at work with more responsibility, more stress, more kpi,....

Sorry op, long rant. In short, I agree with you.

I get an annual increment of just over £1000 which equates to about £40 a month extra in my take home pay. So if I doubled this to £2000 it'd be about £80 a month so I don't think you can be getting paid the right amount. Just ring HMRC, they'll be able to tell you if your tax code has changed (although you should have been informed of this). Google 'uk take home pay calculator' and click on first link, it's great for working out what you should be taking home although you'll need to know your tax code and what percentage of pension you pay (if any) to put in.

Sorry to hear of other people in a similar position. I keep payslips etc in work, so can't post figures now and, tbh, I am not too sure, for example, what % goes on pension, so I really need to look into this properly.

I have never in my life complained about paying tax, and firmly believe that high taxes are a good thing to pay for the services we all need and use. However, it does seem that people on this kind of middle-income (my before tax total is apprx £43000) seem to get hit particularly badly, and it does make you wonder whether it is really worth it - though I'm not sure I would feel that way if I didn't have children.

Whoever posted the exact figures for losing CB, thank you. I must admit I got that totally wrong and thought everyone lost it at £45000 . Good to know I can at least stop moaning about that - I am unlikely to ever lose it completely .

Yes it is unfair on the middle earners at the moment who have been hit hard by moving into the 42% tax/NI band,so many more than used to be in that band and they are not high earners really particularly as those on lower pay often are getting a big top up of housing benefit and tax credit the middle earners don't get.

I would not stop women going for higher pay however. My daughter got a £20k pay rise this year and obviously 42% of that goes to the state but that's still £966 extra month. Well done her. I have tried to ensure both daughters realise how bad many women are at asking for more pay, pressing for it, making a case, checking what men earn, not getting left behind men in pay stakes etc and I think that's paid off.

Similarly in teaching if you can get be some kind of superhead on £100k a year then of the top 50k of your pay you will keep 58% of it, £29,000 of that after tax (ignoring student loan and loss of child benefit and pensions). That is money worth having.

www.tesfaq.co.uk/pay

try Tafkam's (from TES) brilliant pay calculator for teachers. You will quickly see how much exactly you should be taking home each month. If you click on the second tab in the spreadsheet you will also see how much you will be paying in NI, tax and pension contributions.

It think you should be in the region of £2420 take home as it is a similar salary to me (teaching).

oops-I see Zirca also posted the tafkam link above.