Marginal Tax Rates, Work, and the Nation's Real Tax System

Gene Steuerle testifies before the House Subcommittees on Human Resources and Select Revenue Measures on the true marginal tax rates facing low- and moderate-income families. The nations real tax system includes not just the direct statutory rates explicit in the income tax and the Social Security tax systems, but the implicit taxes that derive from the phasing out of various benefits in both expenditure and tax programs. These rates can be quite high, especially for families with children, and can carry incentives that discourage work, marriage, and upward mobility.