Did tax reform hurt the elderly?
Federal and state income tax reform increased aggregate federal tax payments of elderly taxpayers by just over 5% and their aggregate state taxes by about 6%. However, the entire increase is accounted for by the elderly in the top income decile. The mean change in total income taxes paid by the elderly was $135, but the median increase was zero because most older persons paid no federal or state income tax before or after tax reform. The overall effect of tax reform was a slight shift in income tax burdens from the nonelderly to the elderly reversing a trend dating from the late 1970s.
Gist
J R
JR
Economics, Public Policy Institute, American Association of Retired Persons, Washington, DC 20049.
D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007183:Income Tax / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011640:Public Policy; D012943:Social Security / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States