Tax Burden Is Rising to Highest Level in History

Under current law, tax revenues are expected to leap to 25.5 percent of the economy by 2082. Extending the tax cuts would shave only about 1 percentage point off of this burden. AMT and real bracket creep are the biggest drivers of this rising tax burden.

Federal Tax Revenues as a Percentage of GDP, 1962–2082

Source: Heritage Calculations Based on CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook, December 2007 and Budget and Economic Outlook, January 2008.