Are federal taxes progressive?
Taken as a whole, the federal tax system is progressive: on average, households with higher incomes pay a larger share of their income in federal tax than do those with lower incomes. In other words, the overall average effective tax rate-total tax paid as a percentage of income-rises as income rises. But not all taxes within the federal system are equally progressive. The estate tax is the most progressive federal tax. The individual and corporate income taxes are also progressive. In contrast, payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare are regressive, claiming a larger share of income from lower-income than from higher-income households.
