This paper examines how adjusting for family size in distributional analysis affects the distribution of tax burdens. We find that average tax rates for low-income families fall and average tax rates for some high-income families rise when the measured ability to pay is adjusted for family size,...

Charles E. Boynton is a program manager and senior program analyst with the IRS Large and Midsize Business Division Office of Research and Workload Identification. From September 2000 through May 2006, he was a Surrey Senior Research Fellow for the Treasury Office of Tax Analysis. He has been a...