Tax Rates

New data from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the tax system is indeed progressive, as we discuss in our chapter on economic policy:

Average effective federal tax rates by income quintile:

Shares of pretax income and tax paid, by quintile:

Effective federal tax rates by source and quintile:

Those who argue for even greater progressivity point to increasing inequality of income. See cumulative change in real after-tax income, by income group: