Discussion

Answer the following questions regarding taxes.

1. The Georgia state government currently levies a 4% sales tax on most purchases of consumer goods and services. Do you think this sales tax progressive, regressive, or proportional? Explain your logic.
2. Lucy currently earns $72,000 and pays $17,000 in federal income taxes. Simon earns $110,000 per year and pays $20,000 in income taxes. Based on this small amount of information, is this tax system progressive, regressive, or proportional?
3. Imagine that the current unemployment rate is 2.1%. Would this be a reasonable time to raise taxes? Explain.