Historical Trends in the Degree of Federal Income Tax Progressivity in the United States
نویسنده
چکیده
The present study examines how the degree of progressivity of the U.S. Federal Income Tax has changed over time (from 1929 through 2009). Data from the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Census Bureau, and Bureau of Economic Analysis is used to construct “tax concentration curves” and “income concentration curves” (of which the well known Lorenz Curve is an example) for each year during this time period. Based upon these curves, numerical values of several previously developed tax progressivity indices are determined for each year for the U.S. Federal Income Tax. The obtained values suggests that: (i) the degree of progressivity has varied greatly over time, (ii) taxation outcomes have become more progressive over the past four decades, (iii) the most progressive taxation outcomes of the last 67 years have been realized within the most recent decade, and (iv) recent taxation outcomes are much less progressive than were taxation outcomes before 1942.
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