why did congress increase taxes in 1982 
public concern over the size of the federal budget deficit tends to wax and wane over time in the early 1980s concern was high oddly the deficit was not all that high historically speaking although it did decline after the passage of tefra 13the bottom linethe tax equity and fiscal responsibility act was an attempt to raise government revenue without raising income taxes its focus was on toughening tax enforcement to close the so called tax gap of unreported and under reported income ultimately tefra had a broad impact on the incomes of millions of americans from waitresses dependent on tips to retirees dependent on pensions 