1 .		Sources of Federal Revenue The largest source of federal revenue is the federal income tax, which accounts for nearly half of all revenue. Many Americans believe that they pay too much in federal income taxes, and that their federal income taxes are going up year after year. Let's look at a chart that shows the historical federal tax rates for a family of four from 1995 to 2001, and assess whether or not taxes are going up, staying the same, or actually going down. Search Tips Go to http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/overview/family_rates.cfm and review the Average Income Tax Rate for the three categories (one-half median income, median income, and twice median income) over time from 1955 to 2001. Questions to Ask How would you characterize the average income tax rate of a family of four in each of the three groups? Are taxes going up or down for each group? Why it Matters When debating taxes it is important to understand how much taxes people actually pay. Any one family or individual's taxes may be high or low depending upon circumstance, so the only clear way to understanding the tax burden is to group people by level of income or some other category. Get Involved Do you think taxes are too high? Too low? Just right? Tell your elected officials either via an e-mail message or a letter.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.