Question

Brianna and Jess live in Taxland, which only has one tax, an income tax. Both Brianna and Jess pay $1,000 in taxes each year but Brianna earns $20,000 and Jess earns $10,000. From this information, you can infer that the tax system is:_______. a) regressive. b) equitable. c) proportional. d) progressive.

Answer 1

Answer: A. Regressive

Explanation: Regressive tax system is a system whereby people with lower income pay a higher tax than people with higher income. This is because the tax rates are applied uniformly to everyone, not taking into consideration how much one person makes in relation to another.

In the scenario given in the question above, we see that Jess pays higher than Brianna. This is because the tax rate is a flat fee of $1,000. Now, deducting this amount from the income of Jess and Brianna, we see that Jess is left with $9,000, while Brianna is left with $19,000.

Therefore, Jess has actually paid more tax than Brianna.

This system is the opposite of Progressive tax, where people are taxed based on their income. Simply put, the higher an individual earns, the higher they will pay in taxes.