Effects of Adjusting Distribution Tables for Family Size

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, and that there is less variation in average rates for middle-income families. We also find that the family size adjustment affects the distribution of certain tax expenditures. In a separate analysis, we measure the equivalence scale for families of four relative to single taxpayers implied by the individual tax code.