Two Cheers for Extended Tax Cuts and an IRS in Chaos
With Tax Day rapidly approaching, I can’t be the only person who chuckles over reports about layoffs and top officials quitting at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). “Oh, that should put them off their game,” I think to myself. I’m equally pleased to see Congress moving to extend tax cuts even while knowing that the federal government really needs to balance its books. After all, the feds have never shown much willingness to cut spending even as they burn through every dime they collect and more. The fact is that I hate taxes and the system that collects them, and so do most Americans.
Most of Us Agree That Taxes Are Too High
According to a Gallup survey published this week, “when asked about the amount of federal income tax they have to pay, 59% of Americans say it is too high, 38% about right and 2% too low.”
A March WalletHub survey put the percentage saying their current tax rate is too high at 66 percent. Thirty-one percent said it’s just right and 3 percent wanted to be taxed more.
These results aren’t unusual. Gallup has tracked public opinion on taxes since 1956. Except for a few brief periods, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when too many people foolishly bought into the idea that government was looking out for them, majorities have always picked “too high.”
The distaste isn’t confined to federal income taxes. In January 2024, two-thirds of respondents told A.P.–NORC pollsters that federal income taxes are too high, while 7 in 10 said the same about local property taxes, and 6 in 10 voiced the same opinion of state sales taxes. Last week, 57 percent of those surveyed by Reuters/Ipsos opposed the import taxes (tariffs) which currently dominate headlines.
Americans (Kind of) Want To Pay Less for a Smaller Government
What’s interesting is that Americans understand that opposing high taxes requires tradeoffs, and they say they’re willing to make them. According to that same A.P.–NORC poll finding widespread agreement that we’re overtaxed, “half say they would prefer having fewer government services if it meant reducing their bill. One-third would keep their taxes the same in exchange for the same services, and 16% would opt to increase taxes for more services.”
That’s similar to the majority of Americans (55 percent in 2024) who say year after year that “the
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