Marginal Combined Federal Taxes On A Family Of Four

I am graphing the marginal combined federal taxes on our single earner family of four with three different combinations of tax rates:

1. Income only
2. Income & Payroll (the employee part of social security and medicare)
3. Income & Payroll (both the employer and employee part of social security and medicare)

Marginal Combined Federal Taxes

The marginal payroll tax rate for this family was 0 until 1979 when the taxable maximum income subject to the payroll tax was greater than this family’s median income.

Keep in mind the Tax Policy Center calculate these rates for:

•  4 person family including a married couple with one earner
•  Itemized deductions are assumed to equal 23 percent of income through 1986 and 18 percent of income thereafter

Data: Historical Combined Income and Employee Tax Rates for a Family of Four; Historical Social Security and FICA Tax Rates for a Family of Four

Article by Visualizing Economics