How Progressive is the U.S. Tax System? (Thomas Coleman & David A. Weisbach, November 20, 2023, University of Chicago Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper No. #991)
Notwithstanding some headline results to the contrary, all three datasets show that the tax system has become more progressive and more redistributive over the last several decades, with much of that change occurring in recent years. This increase in redistribution is driven primarily by an increase in transfers to households in the bottom half of the income distribution which is missed by a focus on the top 1%.