bracket creep
1
8.5
- noun
- /ˈbrækɪt krip/
- Literature
:
incremento de tramos fiscales
- Real bracket creep can continue almost forever—or until all income is taxed at the highest rate.
- tax bracket creep
Examples
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Many taxpayers experienced bracket creep as inflation pushed their incomes higher, resulting in unexpected tax increases.
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A slowdown in the CPI would result in even larger amounts of bracket creep.
Blog text (18) -
The tax system already allows for what is known as "real" bracket creep.
Blog text (18) -
Some eventual cap on the amount of real bracket creep may be appropriate.
Blog text (18) -
The phenomenon of bracket creep occurs when individuals see their tax bills rise despite no real increase in their purchasing power.
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To mitigate the impact of bracket creep, some financial advisors suggest adjusting income strategies annually.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound clearly combines 'bracket' (a range/class) with 'creep' (slow movement), so a learner who knows both words can infer a gradual shifting related to brackets — likely people moving into higher tax ranges. However, the full economic nuance (inflation-driven nominal income increases causing higher taxes) and the tax-specific sense of 'bracket' require domain knowledge, so the meaning is only partly predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Bracket creep comes from the image of tax brackets and the word creep, like something slowly moving into the next bracket. It means people can be pushed into a 'higher tax rate' as their income rises when prices go up, even though they are 'not actually richer'.