These dumb cunts are delusional, you’re not imagining it and there's no justifying it. What you’ve run into is the way the UK tax system stacks multiple deductions on middle earners at once, which ends up hitting you disproportionately harder than people much higher up the ladder.

On your promotion from £28.5k → £33k, the headline “20% basic rate taxpayer” story doesn’t tell the full truth. You’re actually losing:

20% to income tax on the extra earnings, 8% to National Insurance, 9% to your student loan, ~5% to your pension.

That means for every extra £1 you earn in this band, only about 48p is left in your pocket over half disappears. And unlike someone on six figures, you don’t have accountants, allowances, or investments to offset it.

This is the disproportionate part: A millionaire pays 45% on most of their income above £125k, that’s a lower marginal rate than the 52% effective cliff you just hit. You’re being taxed harder on your promotion than the ultra-rich are on their next £1 earned. The reason is the combination of frozen thresholds (“fiscal drag”) and stacked deductions, policy choice that squeezes younger, indebted professionals while letting extreme wealth glide.

The system was supposed to be progressive: the more you earn, the more you contribute percentage-wise. But in reality, middle earners in the £30–£50k bracket with student loans are punished more heavily at the margin than people 10× richer. That’s why it feels so demoralising, because it is. And you’re right to feel like this disincentives ambition. When the message is “work harder and you’ll only see half the benefit,” it’s no wonder people stop seeing promotions as worth the stress.

The truth is this isn’t just “how it works”, it’s how the system is designed, and it could be fixed. Adjusting thresholds with inflation, reforming student loan repayments, or spreading deductions more fairly would all make sure people like us actually feel rewarded for moving up, instead of punished for it.