A few years ago a Danish friend of mine said she'd hit a point where it wasn't worth taking a raise because of the progressive taxation system, and so instead she would negotiate for more benefits.
I left denmark many moons ago for the same reason. Tipping point was when i wanted to buy a car. When i was the amount in tax i basically packed and left. Somehow people think that denmark is expensive because somehow products are better quality, but they arent really. It’s just high taxes. At hospitals you have to wait in long queues for anything serious and universities are meh. Paid for my public uk degree a very tiny amount and was rather happy with it.
So as soon as you were paying back into your country you decided enough is enough and moved to a country with much higher social inequality?
Okay good for you but a weird brag.
One of my main reason not to go to USA is exactly that. I don't want to earn lots of money while my country people have to go to a Sporthall to get their teeth fixed once a year because you need to be special to go to a dentist.
I feel you on this. I live in the 3rd world (Turkiye) and have been itching to buy a motorcycle lately. The $26k BMW 1250RT I want costs $35k here, and another $20k in taxes.
That's not how our tax system works. There are different intervals, so at some point you need to pay a higher percentage, but only of the amount above that point.
This year it's 552.500DKK, anything you make ABOVE that, is taxed an additional 15%. So a raise will never leave you with less money. The amount is also adjusted yearly, so next year it normally higher, meaning that you are effectively taxed less.
It is true that if you're only getting 35 - 40% of that raise, because the rest is just taxes, it might be of greater value to you to get more vacation time. Benefits are a little tricky, because they are taxed as well. I believe you could do extra pension, because that's taxed when it's paid out.
Thats how the tax system works in any progressive tax system. I believe india has such a systen as well. Danish brackets are higher and so is every other tax.
So your boss wants to give you a $1000 raise, but you don't want it, because you'll only get the $400 and the rest is just tax? At no point will taking the $400 impact what you're already making or how it's taxed. Even the Danish government isn't stupid enough to implement a system where your existing income is reduced, because you get a raise.
Again I see the point if you're offered or able to get some kind of benefits or vacation time instead. That may easily be of greater value to you. That's just not often an option.
Edit: If it helps: A progressive tax is what the US have. India may as well, that I don't know.