With the deadline to file 2013 taxes approaching fast, more Americans are now coming face-to-face with just how much they own Uncle Sam. As the U.S. has always had an interesting relationship to taxes, it isn’t surprising that most Americans are somewhat unsettled by the amount of federal taxes they owe.
A new Gallup poll released today shows that a majority of Americans believe that federal taxes are too high. The survey found that 52% of Americans feel this way about their federal taxes, while only 42% believe the taxes they pay are “about right.”
This percentage of Americans unhappy with their tax burden is up quite a bit from just two years ago, when just 46% of Americans believe federal taxes were too high. However, this percentage is much closer to 50% than in the past, such as in 2001 when 68% of Americans thought taxes were too high. The percentage has been around the 50% mark since 2003 – likely a reaction to the Bush Administration income tax cuts.
The Gallup poll also tracks the percentage of Americans who believe their federal income taxes are too low. This year’s survey puts that percentage at 3%, not surprising and not far off from historical numbers.
While the majority of Americans this year believe their federal income taxes are too high, a majority also believe that the amount they are paying is fair. Gallup found that 54% of Americans believe their federal income tax payments are fair, down from 55% last year. This percentage has been dropping since 2003, when 64% believed they were paying a fair amount.
The split between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of fair taxes is predictably wide. Only 37% of Democrats said they believe their federal income taxes are too high, while 69% of them believe they are paying a fair amount. A full 57% of Republicans believe federal income taxes are too high and nearly half of them (49%) do not believe they are paying a fair amount.
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