Americans Loathe Federal Taxes More Than Ever: Poll

View of federal taxes hits twenty year low

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As income-tax refunds are down more than 7 percent from last year, Americans’ view of federal income taxes hit a two-decade low, according to a new poll released on May 19.

The Gallup poll showed 60 percent of respondents believe the amount in federal income taxes that they pay is too high, a level last seen in 2001, just shortly before George W. Bush signed his first major tax cut law.

“Since then, no presidents have significantly raised federal income tax rates for lower- and middle-income Americans, but Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden both raised taxes on upper-income Americans and corporations,” Gallup said.

Among correspondents, 36 percent said they pay about the right amount, while 46 percent said the income tax that they pay is fair, the lowest since 1999.

More than half said it is not fair, the most in the history of the poll. A very small percentage (3 percent) said their federal taxes are too low.

Ranking Tax Types

According to the survey, more Americans feel federal income tax is the worst, or least fair, among five common government taxes—followed by local property taxes, state income tax, state sales tax, and the federal Social Security tax.

Opinions of local property tax—previously considered to be the least fair—went up, with only 29 percent naming local property tax as the least fair, down from 35 percent in 2005.

Between 10 and 14 percent of Americans say federal Social Security tax, state income tax, and state sales tax are the worst taxes, according to the survey, a number that has not changed meaningfully since 2005.

Before the 2001 tax cuts, the percentage of Americans complaining that their taxes were too high was often more than 60 percent, including a record high of 71 percent in 1952, Gallup noted.

Gallup said in its analysis that it is unclear to what extent the following factors have influenced Americans’ worsening views of federal income taxes: inflation, the health of the economy, or misperception of their personal tax situation, “possibly influenced by their political beliefs.”

The poll was conducted from April 3 to April 25, and surveyed 1,013 people.

Pew Research Survey

In a separate survey from the Pew Research Center published in April, 56 percent of respondents said that the amount they pay in taxes is too much, up from 49 percent in 2021. About a third say they pay the right amount in taxes, and only 8 percent say they pay less than their fair share.

Unlike the Gallup poll, the Pew study did not do a breakdown of tax type, asking if respondents pay their fair share, “given what they get from the federal government.”

Sixty-one percent of adults say that “some corporations” don’t pay their fair share in taxes, while 60 percent say “some wealthy people” are not paying their fair share.

The poll comes as Americans continue to debate about whether the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations pay enough in taxes. The Biden administration has consistently pressed for higher tax rates on high-earning individuals.

The Pew study noted that the sentiment follows party lines: 77 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners say that corporations and wealthy people do not pay their fair shares. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, 46 percent think corporations should pay more, while only 43 percent think the wealthy should pay more.

Fifty-six percent of respondents to the Pew survey feel that the amount they pay in taxes is too much, up from 49 percent in 2021. About a third say they pay the right amount in taxes, and only 8 percent say they pay less than their fair share.

Fifty-three percent of correspondents to the Pew survey say the complexity of the federal tax system bothers them a lot, up from 47 percent who said this in 2021. Thirty-two percent say the tax system’s complexity bothers them “some,” while 13 percent say it bothers them not much or not at all.

Additionally, 38 percent are bothered “a lot” by the amount they personally pay in taxes today. A third say the amount they pay bothers them somewhat, while 29 percent say it doesn’t bother them much or at all.

Only 13 percent are greatly bothered by a sense that lower-income people don’t pay their fair share to the federal treasury. An additional 21 percent are somewhat bothered by this, while 28 percent say this bothers them not much or not at all (36 percent).

The survey was conducted from March 27 to April 2, 2023, among 5,079 adults in the United States.