AIBU to feel disheartened by earning into the higher tax band?

[Chocolateapot]

I have finally after many many years of studying progressed in my career to just slightly above the 40% tax threshold. Unfortunately I’ve realised this now means any additional income I earn is now taxed at 40%, student loan 9% and 2% national insurance, essentially giving a marginal tax rate of 51%.

Not sure why I bothered tbh

These are all active choices though. Nobody forced you to “work yourself to the bone” at the expense of enjoying your life. You could earn less but have a smaller house in a different area and end up with more disposable income to go abroad and do all the other things you feel you missed out on.

Three adopted children. That alone has saved the taxpayer money. There is a significantly higher rate of behavioural and learning issues in adopted children than in the general population. @Lordofthebantams has worked hard to try to give her children an education suited to their needs, now that is becoming unaffordable. She has shown a strong work ethic, to try and improve life for her family. I see nothing negative there. Surely we all want to give our children the best chances we can?

It’s interesting when someone wants to adopt, every aspect of their life is scrutinised, including their ability to support the child. It’s not an easy process, with little or no support once the adoption is complete.

Because it is unfair, the tax bands haven’t been looked in years for ‘higher’ earners, and it’s like no one is allowed to moan cos apparently it means you’re rich and privileged…

I didn’t mention anything about her adopted children. She could’ve made cheaper life choices even with the three children. I’d say exactly the same to anyone saying they’ve worked all hours under the sun and sacrificed downtime, hobbies and holidays.

Redirect that new money into your pension so that you fall below the threshold again. Or suck it up. There are many worse problems to have than being in a higher tax bracket. Wait until you hit 100K. Ouch.

I’ve always been self employed and capable of being a high earner. A long time ago I realised that work life balance was far more important and with a family I chose to work enough hours to earn up to the limit of basic rate tax. Obviously I also chose to live within those means. I built up a decent business which I sold when I was 55 and then used the proceeds to live off until I could take my pension at 60. I still work one day a week but pay most of my earnings into a private pension to reduce my tax.

It’s very much about the life you want to lead. Working 5 days a week but netting considerably less for 2 of them just never felt right opting to work 3 days for not much less and having slightly less disposable income ( in actual fact by not working full time I didn’t need to employ a cleaner, pay extra for afterschool care and could save a lot of money on travel costs and extras incurred at work).

I was the main earner in my marriage so I was acutely aware of the overall split. From the beginning of our relationship we agreed to split our living costs. It was much less stressful on our relationship to be earning about the same although I worked mainly part time.

I do get some funny reactions from people but in the highly stressful job I do it’s common to burn out. I love my job and working part time has helped to prevent early burn out.

The other bonus is that my pension is about the same as my part time income, so we haven’t had to make lifestyle changes to adjust to a lower income.

If you haven’t got a private pension it might be worth paying into one to make use of the tax benefits. Although you won’t see it in your pay packet you will be building up a decent pension. Your employer may also agree to contribute. Take a look at SIPPS for every £100 you pay in the government will pay £20 and you get £20 tax relief.

Exactly. The labour government havent improved anything. No more teachers, water still polluted (big one in my area), crime rising.

I can hear the cries of '14 years of Tories' so I will point out that I am paying more now. Where the hell is it going?!

No I don’t assume any of that at all. You appear to be making assumptions about what other people have or haven’t done to get to where they are. You don’t like that I am challenging that. Presumably, because you are frustrated and probably quite understandably so. But THAT would be ME making an assumption.

There’s no money. How is any government supposed to improve anything without funding? As we were constantly reminded by the Tories there is no magic money tree.

Crime rates aren’t rising, by the way.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/283069/crimes-in-england-and-wales/?srsltid=AfmBOooykXgTulA5mYKfaemAvOMlHQC-Bo3sACAptZJEpuv5mAbZJClq

It’s such a disincentive to progress, OP. I don’t think you’re being unreasonable.

For a long time, I reduced my salary to £99,999 by putting the excess in my pension.

Then when I got promoted a few levels higher, not only did I lose the £12.5k tax-free allowance, I’ve also had my tax-free pension allowance reduced to £10k a year, instead of the £60k allowance everyone else gets.

So now I’m just staying in the same job that suits me from a location and hours perspective, because there’s no way I’m earning more to pay an incredible amount of tax. I fund several families on benefits at this rate, as we also avoid the NHS and put our DCs in private education, so get nothing back.

If the government let me keep the £12.5k tax-free allowance and £60k tax-free pension allowance, I’d be earning double the bonus. DH earns more than me, so he pays even more in tax. It’s galling, given the state of the UK generally.

You won’t find any sympathy on here though OP… you’re only allowed to complain on mumsnet if you don’t have any money at all 🤦🏼‍♀️😆

There is no way I’ll ever strive to earn more in the UK (DH wants to move to the US and I’m warming to the idea). Actually if Angela Rayner becomes PM I’ll be tempted to retire early before she fucks us over entirely 😂

I reallocated my 3.85% salary increase (company budget per employee) to my team this year, as it means more to them in their pockets than to me.

New username, due to how emotive the topic is (penis beaker, Mexican hour thief etc).

That overall small decrease hides a lot of complexity. For my city these are the below stats, far from good news

Key Crime Trends (Q1 2026):
Declines: Homicides (down 25%), aggravated assaults (down ~14%).
Increases: Thefts from buildings (>200% spike), kidnapping/abduction (up 71%).
Vehicle Crime: Increase in theft reported, often due to keys/fobs being left in vehicles.
Violent Crime: Despite a 0.4% decrease year-over-year, violent crime remains high at 115% of the national average.
Weapons: Possession of weapons increased by 8%, representing 149% of the national average.
Antisocial Behaviour: Increased by 9.4% year-over-year.

I’d have thought a 25% decrease in the homicide rate was a reason to celebrate, personally.

But kidnaping up 71% less so hey.

This. It’s easier to adjust your earnings to land under it, going part time taking unpaid holidays etc. when you now think there are people who don’t work at all and have a higher take home it makes me so cross. If you work long hours and earn your bonus or take some overtime - you end up penalised. Yet government don’t seem to listen. I wonder how much tax they’d genuinely miss out on by changing the tax brackets - no would certainly have staff working more = more taxes paid !!

I don’t blame you for feeling this way.

I have an average salary, and I know many people that have gone part time as soon as they’ve had a large pay rise. Or have negotiated their salaries down below the 40% threshold.

I think the cost of living is what’s disheartening. The fact you can eat so much but expenses are high so life doesn’t always reflect that salary. Which is rubbish.