As Americans confront the yearly deadline to pay their federal income taxes, 45% of U.S. adults believe lower-income earners pay “too much.” This sentiment is up roughly five percentage points from recent years, but is still lower than a decade ago. CONT. Justin McCarthy, Gallup Read more »
Perceptions of Tax Fairness Diverging by Income in U.S.
Americans’ perceptions of the fairness of their federal income taxes have diverged along income lines in recent years. From 2005 to 2008, roughly six in 10 Americans in each income group said what they paid in income taxes was fair. Since then, higher- and lower-income Americans have grown less likely […] Read more »
Unequal, Yet Happy
… Despite soaring inequality, worsened by the Great Recession, and recent grumbling about the 1 percent, Americans remain fairly happy. All of the wage gains since the downturn ended in 2009 have essentially gone to the top 1 percent, yet the proportion of Americans who say they are “thriving” has […] Read more »
5 facts on how Americans view taxes
Benjamin Franklin popularized the sentiment that nothing is certain “except death and taxes.” But the public isn’t too keen on the current federal tax system, with 59% saying there is so much wrong that Congress should completely change it (38% say it works pretty well and needs only minor changes). […] Read more »
There Are Few Libertarians. But Many Americans Have Libertarian Views.
… It’s correct to say that few Americans identify as libertarian. Only 11 percent said the term “libertarian” describes them well, according to a 2014 Pew Research poll. Nor do very many Americans self-identify as socially liberal but economically conservative. … But how people label themselves is one thing. Americans […] Read more »
Candidates and Wealthy Are Aligned on Inequality
Appearing at a candidate forum in late January, three likely Republican presidential contenders — Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul — all made a striking confession: They considered “the increasing gap between rich and poor” to be a problem. But on the question of whether the government should […] Read more »