Meaning & use
progressive taxes
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluralfinance
Taxes arranged so that people with higher incomes pay a larger share of their income than people with lower incomes.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun; for a single one, say 'a progressive tax'.
Patterns
- progressive taxes on something
- introduce progressive taxes
- a system of progressive taxes
The party promised to fund public housing with progressive taxes on the very rich.
Economists argue that progressive taxes reduce inequality more effectively than flat charges.
Under progressive taxes, a cleaner earning a modest salary hands over a much smaller percentage than a company director does.
nounpluralfinance
A tax system in which the rate rises in steps as the amount being taxed grows.
Grammar: Refers to the whole structure rather than to individual payments; often follows 'under' or 'through'.
Patterns
- under progressive taxes
- move to progressive taxes
- a shift toward progressive taxes
Under progressive taxes, the first slice of income is taxed at a low rate and later slices at higher ones.
Several candidates want to move the country toward progressive taxes on inherited wealth.
Critics say progressive taxes can discourage people from working extra hours.
Common combinations
- a system of progressive taxes
- The report compares the tax systems of ten countries, focusing on those with a system of progressive taxes.
- introduce progressive taxes
- The new government plans to introduce progressive taxes on large fortunes.
- progressive taxes on the wealthy
- Progressive taxes on the wealthy raised enough money to rebuild the schools.
- shift toward progressive taxes
- Voters supported a shift toward progressive taxes and away from sales levies.
- pay progressive taxes
- High earners in that country pay progressive taxes of over forty percent.
Synonyms and how they differ
- graduated taxes
- Very close in meaning and common in American English; it stresses the step-by-step rise in rates rather than the fairness argument.
- taxes based on ability to pay
- A descriptive phrase rather than a set term; it emphasizes fairness and is more at home in political speeches than in tax law.
Opposites
Word family
- progressive taxation noun
- The general principle or practice of taxing higher incomes at higher rates.
- progressivity noun
- The quality of a tax being progressive; used mainly in technical writing.
- progressive adjective
- Describing a tax or rate that rises as the amount taxed increases.
Commonly confused: progressive taxes or progressive? progressive taxes or regressive taxes?
progressive taxes vs progressive
As a political label, 'progressive' means favoring social reform. In 'progressive taxes' it has a technical financial meaning and says nothing about the speaker's politics.
progressive taxes vs regressive taxes
These are the opposite: they take a larger share of income from poorer people, as sales taxes often do.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'progressive taxes' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Progressive taxes mean the rate rises with income, so the high earner pays a larger percentage. Option 0 describes the opposite (regressive taxes), option 2 describes a flat tax, and option 3 confuses income tax with a tax on goods.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “progressive taxes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.