There are a few taxes that tend to effect the poor more heavily than they do the rich, or at least the more well-educated part of the population. They are the lottery and the taxes on tobacco products.
“a few taxes that tend to effect the poor”
AFFECT (doggone homonym!)
In the book The Wealth of Nations, Smith analyzes the effect of different types of taxation on society and the economy. His concern was not one income group or another beyond the effect that different types of taxation upon those groups would affect the economy as a whole.
Even a casual reading of the subject will require one to conclude that every tax, every duty, every tariff affects every member of a society that is participating in commerce. Value or cost is composed of three factors, cost of production, rent, and profit. Often profit is a function of the two former. Any time a tax causes an increase in production cost, whether that be a tax on income, property, consumption or increased value, the bottom line will always mean an increase in final cost and therefor a tax on every individual that purchases goods.
The discussion concluded that the poor are least affected by taxes on land property (although the habitation available for the available currency decreases), and sales taxes on luxury items. And because these affect the lower income levels least in purchasing power, there is little need for increased wages to pay for their sustenance and therefor no cycle of increased costs for production, allowing the upper income and lower income brackets to save capital for investment and improved economy.