A regressive tax is one that is assessed at for high-income individuals. effective rates for low-income individuals, as compared to effective rates While the basic GST rate is for all individuals without regard to their income level, lower income individuals normally spend pertentage of their total income on this tax Since the sales tax is levied on the amounts spent, this means that the sales tax paid by lower income individuals represents percentage of their income. As a consequence, they are generally considered to be in nature