progressive tax

Cultural  

1. A tax that takes a higher proportion of large incomes than of small ones. (Compare regressive tax.)

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Example Sentences

Taxing wealth—or some proxy for it—has some historic precedent: England in 1696 attempted to establish a progressive tax regime based on the number of windows in a home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

The U.S. has a progressive tax system, meaning most people are taxed in multiple tax brackets, at rates that increase as their taxable pay rises past thresholds.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

“I think that there are parts of the income-driven repayment that actually can contribute to a more progressive tax policy, and there are parts that I think are a mistake,” she said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 28, 2023

She proposed more progressive tax policy, fairer wages and more corporate governance scrutiny to ensure that enough money is going into the collective pot to fund more people getting a social security check.

From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2023

Thus, in trying to reach the rich, the progressive tax always reaches the consumer; and it is impossible for it not to reach him without suppressing production altogether: what a mistake!

From System of Economical Contradictions; or, the Philosophy of Misery by Proudhon, P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph)