Tax Perceptions, cont. [Bruce]

The data I cited include all federal taxes including the payroll tax. (Note to Eric: click on the link before posting.) They do not, however, include state and local taxes. These are often assumed to be regressive, but I don't see it. The property tax is essentially progressive because one has to be relatively well off to own a house, and almost every state has a progressive income tax. So my guess is that while states vary in the degree of their progressivity, overall they probably mirror the federal tax distribution.