So if you're married and make $207,700 your overall tax rate is 17%. That doesn't seem too bad. More on reddit.com

Yes, only the I come in each bracket is taxed at that brackets rate. Take the percentage for each bracket multiplied by the income in each bracket, add them all up, and you'll have your tax. Any credits you have then reduce your tax. Deductions apply to your income before you use the brackets to calculate tax, credits apply after you calculate tax. This is why credits are better than deductions - deductions only save you a percentage, credits save you dollar for dollar. After applying credits to find your total tax liability, you then compare your tax liability to how much you paid in throughout the year via withholdings or payments, and that's how you find out if you'll owe (if you underpaid) or get a refund (if you overpaid) with your tax return. As for bonuses, they are taxed the exact same as typical income. The only difference is that they might be withheld differently. So when you get your bonus paycheck, they may withhold it at 22%, even if that's not what your typical paychecks are withheld at. That doesn't mean that it's taxed differently. Side gig income is taxed as ordinary income just like the rest of your income, however you also have to pay self employment taxes of 15.3% in addition to the typical ordinary income tax. As an employee, you pay 7.65% Medicare + Social Security taxes on each paycheck, and your employer pays the other half. As a self employed person, you have to pay both halves, thats where the 15.3% comes from. And you have to pay it manually yourself unlike an employee who always will have the SS + Medicare deducted directly from their paychecks. You also deduct half of the 15.3%, so really your self employment tax ends up being 15.3% of 92.35% of your gross profit. Side gig income has the benefit of being able to deduct ordinary and necessary expenses. Side gig income and expenses get reported on Schedule C of your tax return More on reddit.com

I guarantee those folks believe the Federal income tax on $49k is $49k x 22% = $10,780. (It's really closer to $3,842, or about 7.8% of gross; not a dollar is taxed at 22%). More on reddit.com

You misunderstand tax brackets. When you cross into a higher tax bracket only the additional income is taxed at the higher rate thus it is impossible** to have less money when earning more. **however you may lose access to certain deductions if you earn more, for example the ability to deduct student loan interest from your taxes fades out as you earn more. More on reddit.com