• A regressive tax is a type of tax that is assessed regardless of income, in which low- and high-income individuals pay the same dollar amount.

  • This type of tax is more of a burden on the low-income than on the high-income, for whom the same dollar amount equates to a much larger percentage of total earned income.
  • A regressive system is different from a progressive system in which individuals with higher incomes pay a higher percentage of income tax than those with lower incomes.
  • In the United States and some other developed countries, a progressive tax is applied to income, but other taxes, such as sales tax and user fees, are levied in the same way.