> Sales and property taxes are regressive. Income tax with marginal tax brackets is progressive. This is a pretty simple concept. Not true. Income taxes (as im

> Sales and property taxes are regressive. Income tax with marginal tax brackets is progressive. This is a pretty simple concept. Not true. Income taxes (as implemented in the US) have enormous blind spots that favor homeowners at the expense of renters: untaxed imputed rent and the capital gains tax exclusion for your main home. These undermine the claim that the income tax is more progressive than the property tax. > Landlords will pass on the cost of property taxes to renters. Not for the most part. The question is, when the property tax increases, how much of it is eaten by the landlord (in lower post-tax rent), and how much is a burden on the tenant (in higher gross rent due to reduced housing supply)? In California where supply is inelastic, I would argue that the low property tax is almost all a windfall to the landowner rather than the tenant.