Money & budgets
regressive tax
A tax that takes a larger share of income from people who earn less, even when everyone pays the same rate. Sales and excise taxes are the standard examples.
In full
A flat 6 percent sales tax is regressive in effect because lower-income households spend nearly all their income and higher-income households save part of theirs. States relying heavily on sales taxes therefore have more regressive systems than states relying on income taxes, which is a central fact in any comparison of state tax burdens.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.