Americans Are More Positive About Their Taxes This Year

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the deadline to file federal income taxes looming, 61% of U.S. adults regard the income tax they have to pay as fair, the most positive sentiment since 2009. A year ago, 50% held this view, which is lower than all but one other reading in Gallup's trend.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 5-9.

Americans' perceptions of the fairness of their taxes have varied over the years, tending to be lower in years when a Democratic president was in office and higher in years when there was a Republican president. About 50% of Americans thought their taxes were fair in the late 1990s when President Bill Clinton was in office and in early 2001 before the first round of income tax cuts passed in President George W. Bush's administration.

Between 2003 -- the year Bush passed a second round of tax cuts -- and the end of his presidency, at least six in 10 Americans believed their taxes were fair. In 2009, Barack Obama's first year as president, 61% of Americans still said their taxes were fair, but in subsequent years the figure stayed below 60%. From 2013 -- after Obama and Congress agreed to let Bush's tax cuts expire for higher-income earners -- through the end of Obama's presidential term, an average of 54% of Americans believed their taxes were fair.

Now that Republican Donald Trump is in office, the percentage saying their taxes are fair is back above 60%.

Republicans are mostly responsible for the variation in perceived income tax fairness over time. Less than half (46%) of Republicans, on average, said their taxes were fair when Clinton and Obama were in office, compared with majorities averaging 60% during the Bush and Trump administrations. Consistent majorities of Democrats have thought their taxes were fair, although more held this view under Obama than under Bush. An average of 60% of Democrats have said taxes were fair under Republican presidents compared with 64% under Democratic presidents. Independents' views also vary modestly when Democratic (54%) or Republican (58%) presidents are in office.

Republicans are leading the rise in perceptions of tax fairness this year, with an increase of 17 percentage points, but independents show nearly as large an increase at 13 points. Democrats show a smaller uptick of five points. The increase this year may suggest that Americans are anticipating a tax cut from Trump.

Fewer Say Taxes Are Too High

A separate question in the survey asks Americans if the amount of federal income tax they pay is too high, about right or too low. Currently, 51% describe the amount of federal tax they have to pay as "too high," down from 57% last year but similar to what it was from 2003-2015. Forty-two percent now say their taxes are "about right," with only 4% saying they are "too low."

Gallup first asked this question of national adults in 1956. Before 2003, it was not uncommon for 60% or more of Americans to say their taxes were too high, with an average of 59% expressing this view between 1956 and 2001.

All major party subgroups show declines since last year in the percentage who say their federal income taxes are too high, including an 11-point decline among Republicans and five-point drops among both independents and Democrats. Overall, 62% of Republicans say their taxes are too high, as do 52% of independents and 39% of Democrats. Democrats are most likely to believe their taxes are "about right."

	2016	2017	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
Republicans
Too high	73	62	-11
About right	25	36	+11
Too low	1	1	0
Independents
Too high	57	52	-5
About right	38	41	+3
Too low	2	4	+2
Democrats
Too high	44	39	-5
About right	45	51	+6
Too low	8	5	-3
Gallup

Bottom Line

Americans' perceptions of their federal income taxes are influenced partly by the rates they are paying, which is apparent in the changes of opinion after the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Political considerations -- namely, the party of the president -- also affect Americans' views.

Although federal income tax laws have changed very little in the past year, Americans are more likely to say their taxes are fair and less likely to say they are too high now, perhaps because a Republican president has replaced a Democratic one. Americans may feel better about their tax situation with a Republican president in office who has pledged to institute "a massive tax cut."

So far, tax policy has received less attention from the Trump administration than immigration and healthcare policy. Still, it remains a major priority for Trump, although it is unclear when he will propose new legislation. The president has reportedly abandoned the tax-cut plan he laid out during his campaign and is working with his advisers on developing a new plan. As on healthcare, the president likely cannot count on Democratic support for his legislation, so whether he succeeds in enacting tax cuts may depend on whether competing Republican factions in Congress can agree on a new policy put forth by Trump or their congressional leaders.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.