The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12

Overall, the federal tax system is progressive: on average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income. Under current law, our tax laws will change markedly in each of the next few years, significantly altering the system's progressivity between now and 2012. This paper summarizes the Tax Policy Center's latest estimates of the distribution of federal taxes for each year from 2009 through 2012.

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Catastrophic Budget Failure

Len Burman, former director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, explains why our spending and borrowing policies are leading the country toward catastrophic budget failure. Burman argues that the Congressional Budget Office?s bleak economic forecasts are too optimistic, and we must act quickly to reduce our deficits.

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