Poll: More Americans Say Their Taxes Fair

Where you stand on the taxes you pay depends greatly on how hefty your earnings are, according to a new CBS News poll.

Fifty percent of Americans think the amount they pay in taxes is fair - a slight decrease from the last few years, but up from an April 1997 CBS News poll.

The percentage who think they pay more than their fair share in taxes has risen from 37% three years ago to 43%.

What Are Your Views? Click Below on the CBS Interactive Poll!

Back in 1997 Americans viewed the amount of taxes they paid as even less fair. Then, 49% said they were paying more than their fair share of federal income taxes, while 47% said they paid the right amount.

Do You Pay Your Fair Share Of Income Taxes?

2010
About right amount     50%
More than fair share     43
Less than fair share     1

April 2007
About right amount     55%
More than fair share     37
Less than fair share     1

April 2006
About right amount     58%
More than fair share     34
Less than fair share     1

April 1997
About right amount     47%
More than fair share     49
Less than fair share     2

Americans' opinions of the fairness of taxes is divided by income level, with the wealthier more likely to object to tax levels.

Two in three Americans with incomes of more than $100,000 a year feel they pay more than their fair share in taxes; on the opposite end, more than half (57%) of Americans earning less than $50,000 say their tax levels are fair.

Do You Pay Your Fair Share Of Income Taxes?
(by income)

Under $50K
About right     57%
More than fair     36
Less than fair     2

$50-$100K
About right     52%
More than fair     46
Less than fair     1

Over $100K
About right     32%
More than fair     66
Less than fair     0

As the deadline for filing taxes approaches, there are some procrastinators, but also some who say they haven't even paid attention to April 15.

According to the CBS News poll conducted between March 29 and April 1, 61% of Americans had already filed their taxes for 2009. Another 20% said they plan to get them done by the April 15 deadline. Three percent have applied for an extension. Six percent say they just aren't thinking about it. Another 9% volunteered that they don't file or don't earn enough to warrant filling out a 1040 form.

Americans with incomes of $50,000 a year or more are slightly more likely to have already filed their taxes than Americans who earn less.

Complete Poll Results: Americans and Income Taxes (March-April 2010)

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 858 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone March 29-April 1, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.