:Income distribution doesn't map 1:1 with consumption distribution, however that doesn't stop usage of the terms progressive and regressive from applying.  It all depends on the particular group's marginal propensity to consume.  You'll frequently find people criticizing sales taxes as regressive, for instance, while by the same logic the FairTax must be progressive.  There is an interesting caveat, however, that we may want to mention: while the FairTax is progressive over the majority of income ranges (in particular the low and mid income ranges), the progressivity/regressivity becomes less determinate as the prebate becomes less significant.  As an example, if we compare someone with an income of 2 million to someone with an income of 3 million dollars, the prebate is only about 1% of their tax burden, so a very small change in marginal propensity to consume might alter the progressivity/regressivity.  This only applies, however, to the super wealthy.