Progressive tax

Type: Concept

As of November 2026, Progressive tax has been mentioned in one podcast episode on The Ezra Klein Show (Dec 2025).

A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term progressive refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the person's marginal tax rate. The term can be applied to individual taxes or to a tax system as a whole. Progressive taxes are imposed in an attempt to reduce the tax incidence on people with a lower ability to pay, as such taxes shift the incidence increasing