bracket creep

American  

noun

1. the gradual movement of a wage earner into a higher federal income-tax bracket as a result of wage increases intended to help offset inflation.

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Example Sentences

If your earnings increased this year, you may be at risk for “bracket creep.”

From Seattle Times

To avoid bracket creep, the government began adjusting, or indexing, tax brackets for inflation in the early 1980s, after a long period of raging inflation.

From New York Times

And if he had run in 1982, as inflation was easing, voters might have been less worried about bracket creep, and Reagan’s anti-tax message perhaps wouldn’t have resonated.

From Washington Post

As a single tax filer myself, I noticed that unmarried taxpayers may actually suffer "bracket creep" that may translate into a higher tax liability in 2018.

From Salon

And even if you had bracket creep then you can maybe recognize that you have bracket creep now.

From Salon