NEW YORK, April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/-- As seen in a
recent Harris Poll, a strong majority of U.S. adults (81%) across
the political spectrum (77% Rep., 84% Dem., 81% Ind.) see our tax
system as a cause of economic inequality in the United States – but that doesn't mean
everyone agrees on what's wrong with it. When asked whether
taxes on different groups of Americans – segmented by income – are
too high, too low or fair, nearly half (46%) feel taxes on the poor
are too high, while over one-third (35%) feel they're fair (up from
29% in 2012) and nearly one in ten (8%) feel they're too low.
Sentiments are far less divided on the other end of the income
spectrum. Majorities see taxes on both billionaires (65%) and
people with incomes of $1 million per
year (58%) as too low, one in ten each see taxes on these groups as
too high (9% for billionaires, 11% for those earning $1 million per year) while 14% feel current rates
are fair for billionaires and 19% say the same for $1m earners.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll
of 2,234 adults surveyed online between
March 12 and 17, 2014. (Full results, including data tables,
can be found here)
Turning to the middle ground between low income and those
earning $1million or more each year,
over six in ten Americans see taxes on the middle class as too high
(62%), while nearly three in ten (28%) see them as fair and only 2%
see them as too low. For people with incomes of $200,000 per year, four in ten Americans (39%)
feel tax rates are fair, three in ten (31%) feel they're too low
and nearly two in ten (17%) believe they're too high.
- Democrats (56%) are far more likely than either Republicans
(35%) or Independents (41%) to see taxes on the poor as too
high, while majorities across party lines agree they're too
high for the middle class (61%, 68% and 59%, respectively).
- Democrats (39%) are also more likely than either Republicans
(23%) or Independents (29%) to see taxes as too low for
those earning $200,000 per year.
- Independents fall more squarely between the two parties on the
perceptions of taxes on those earning $1
million per year (72% Dem. vs. 57% Ind. vs. 42% Rep.) and
billionaires (80% vs. 64% vs. 49%, respectively) as too
low.
- Americans earning under $35,000
per year are more likely than any other income group to see taxes
on the poor as too high (61%); those earning $35,000 to under $75,000 (46%) are also more likely to hold this
belief than those with $100,000 or
more in annual income (35%).
- Generation outlooks show some differences as well, with
Millennials (52%) less likely than any other generation (64% Gen
Xers, 69% Baby Boomers, 64% Matures) to see taxes on the middle
class as too high, while Gen Xers and Baby Boomers (35%
each) are more likely than either Millennials (26%) or Matures
(25%) to see taxes on those earning $200,000 per year as too low.
Support for increasing taxes on the very rich
Majorities of Americans agree – many of them strongly – that
increasing taxes on the very rich would be fair (70% agree, 44%
strongly so), that it would be the right thing to do (68%, 45%) and
that it would help reduce the budget deficit (63%, 34%). Only 35%
agree (18% strongly so) that it would hurt the economy because
these are the very rich are the ones who create jobs.
- Political breakouts follow expected patterns; Democrats are
most likely and Republicans least so, with Independents falling in
between, to agree that doing so would be fair (87% Dem. vs. 69%
Ind. vs. 49% Rep.), that it would be the right thing to do (85% vs.
69% vs. 49%, respectively) and that it would help reduce the budget
deficit 77% vs. 64% vs. 43%, respectively). Also predictably, the
inverse is true for agreement that doing so would hurt the economy
because the very rich are the ones who create jobs (56% Rep. vs.
34% Ind. vs. 21% Dem.).
- Matures (50%) are less likely than any other generation (70%
Millennials, 62% each Gen Xers and baby Boomers) to believe
increasing taxes on the very rich would help reduce the budget
deficit, though sentiments are consistent across generations for
all other sentiments.
Pay to "play?"
Some high earners have made waves in recent news cycles by
floating notions of tying voting rights, or the degree to which
votes "count," to taxes, and different forms of this concept
receive different levels of support among U.S. adults. Nearly four
in ten (37%) agree that the right to vote should be reserved for
those who pay taxes, while only 14% each agree that how much a
person's vote counts in elections should be tied to either the rate
at which they're taxed or how much they pay in taxes overall.
- Nearly half of Republicans (47%) agree the right to vote should
be reserved for taxpayers, compared to a third of Independents
(34%) and three in ten Democrats (30%). Support for ideas of tying
voting "strength" to either the rate at which one is taxed (13%
Rep., 16% Dem., 11% Ind.) or how much one is taxed overall (14%,
15% and 11%, respectively) is low across party lines.
- Millennials are more likely than any other generation to agree
that the right to vote should be reserved for those who pay taxes
(49%, vs. 34% Gen Xers, 32% Baby Boomers and 28% Matures) and that
how much a person's vote counts should be measured by the rate at
which they're taxed (24% vs. 13%, 9% and 6%, respectively).
To see other recent Harris Polls, please visit the Harris
Poll News Room.
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Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 12 and 17, 2014 among 2,234 adults
(aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity,
education, region and household income were weighted where
necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in
the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust
for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use
probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error
which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate,
including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with
nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response
options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The
Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible
sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted,
random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical
because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who
have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have
been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population.
Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in
our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure
of the National Council on Public Polls.
The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in
advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written
permission of The Harris Poll.
Product and brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
The Harris Poll® #39,
April 23, 2014
By Larry
Shannon-Missal, Harris Poll Research Manager
About Nielsen & The Harris Poll
On February 3, 2014, Nielsen
acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll. Nielsen
Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement
company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer
information, television and other media measurement, online
intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in
approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information,
visit www.nielsen.com.
Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
The Harris Poll
212-539-9600
Press.TheHarrisPoll@Nielsen.com
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SOURCE Harris Poll