Tax Notes Today: Hamilton Project Says Tax System Has Become Less Progressive

Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project analyzed the U.S. personal income tax regime in an April report.  They concluded from their findings that while the proportion of taxes paid by high-income taxpayers has grown, this is only because their income has shot up a staggering 250 percent in recent years.  Meanwhile, the top earners' marginal income tax rates have steadily decreased, whereas everyone else has seen both wages and income tax rates remain relatively constant.  Due to these trends, Greenstone and Looney remark that the U.S. personal income tax regime is becoming "less progressive."

See Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney, "Hamilton Project Says Tax System Has Become Less Progressive," Tax Notes Today, 2012 TNT 73-60 (Apr. 13, 2012).

Posted by Matthew Rappaport, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal