Polls Reveal Trends About Taxes

How do Americans really feel about taxes? Well, it depends. It depends on who's getting taxed and what the money is being used for. One's political party and income bracket play a role too.

As "tea party" gatherings to protest taxes and government spending take place across the country, some recent polling data suggests that Americans are not necessarily opposed to taxes.

While solid majorities of Democrats favor increasing taxes to help pay for such things as health care, Republicans are more inclined to oppose such taxes but not in large numbers.

A CBS News/New York Times Poll conducted April 1 - 5 found that most Americans (74 percent) think it is a good idea to raise taxes on people making more than $250,000 per year in order to help improve access to health care and provide tax cuts for households making less – something President Obama has proposed.

Nearly nine in 10 Democrats think it's a good idea, while Republicans divide: 50 percent support the idea and 47 percent do not.

(CBS)

But when Americans are presented with the notion that taxing those earning higher incomes might hurt the economy, support for a tax hike on those making $250,000 or more drops from 74 percent to 39 percent.

Generally speaking, Americans think that those who make more should pay more.

Two-thirds think the tax code should be changed so that middle-class Americans pay less than they do now, and "upper income" people pay more. Eight in 10 Democrats support this idea, while more than half of Republicans are opposed to it.

Similarly, 62 percent of those describing themselves as middle class favor this change to the tax code, while fewer (53 percent) of those who are upper to upper-middle class support it.

(CBS)

A recent Gallup poll, conducted April 6-9, asked Americans what they thought of the amount of federal income tax they pay. According to that poll, 48 percent think they pay about the right amount of federal income tax, 46 percent say the amount they pay is too high, and just 3 percent say their federal income taxes are too low.

The Gallup Organization has been asking this question since 1956 and the only other time a higher percentage said their taxes were about right was in April 2003.

Like the CBS News/New York Times poll, the Gallup poll finds differences by political party – 53 percent of Republicans say the amount of federal income tax they pay is too high, compared to 40 percent of Democrats who say that.

Also, those who earn more think they pay too much.

(CBS)

The Gallup poll also finds that 61 percent of Americans say the amount they have to pay in income tax this year is fair – a number that has been consistently at this level in recent years.

Looking back a decade ago, just 45 percent of Americans thought the amount of taxes they were paying was fair in 1999 – the lowest in a Gallup poll. The highest percentage occurred in 1944 when 90 percent said the amount of taxes they had to pay that year was fair.