Fox News Poll: Record number say their taxes are too high
Half of voters would tell Uncle Sam to give them a hand
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A record number of voters think the taxes they pay are too high, while at the same time slightly more say the message they would give Uncle Sam is "lend me a hand" as opposed to "leave me alone," according to the latest Fox News national survey.
With Tax Day around the corner, 64% think they pay too much in taxes, up 9 percentage points since 2019 — and up 13 points since the question was first asked in 2004.
DEMOCRATS WANT TO TAX YOUR HOME, YOUR RETIREMENT, YOUR EVERYTHING
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Compared to 2019, the increase is across the board, but mainly among Republicans (+26), Hispanic voters (+14), independents (+12), and White voters (+10), all of whom are more likely to feel taxes are too high. Fewer Democrats (-10 points) think their taxes are too high.
Another one-third (33%) say the taxes they pay are about right, while 2% say too low.
The previous record saying taxes are too high was the only other time it broke the 60% mark — 63% in March 2015. Otherwise, the share has stayed between 51-55% since 2004.
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By a 3-point margin, voters are more likely to prefer the federal government lend them a hand (49%) rather than leave them alone (46%).
Between October 2011 and February 2019, voters wanted to be left alone — mostly by double-digit margins. That trend switched in August 2020, about six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, when more wanted the government to lend them a hand by 21 points.
IRS SAYS 940,000 PEOPLE HAVE NOT CLAIMED EXPIRING 2020 TAX REFUNDS TOTALING OVER $1B
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Since then, the numbers have leveled out slightly: +3 points leave me alone (August 2021), + 9 points lend me a hand (October 2022), +3 lend me a hand (now).
Today, two-thirds of Democrats would tell the government "lend me a hand" (68%), while two-thirds of Republicans would say "leave me alone" (65%).
Overall views of the economy remain negative but are a bit more positive than where they’ve been.
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Today, 73% view the economy in fair or poor condition while 26% say it’s in excellent or good shape. That’s close to where the numbers were at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, 69% fair/poor to 29% excellent/good in April 2021 and improved from 84%-17% in July 2022.
Over half feel they are worse off financially compared to four years ago (52%) as just over 2 in 10 think they are better off (22%). A quarter say they’re about the same financially (26%).
Nearly 4 in 10 voters (38%) approve of the job Biden is doing on the economy, his best rating in a year. He does worse on inflation (34% approve) and immigration (30%).
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Overall, 41% approve of the job Biden is doing while 58% disapprove.
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Conducted March 22-25, 2024, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,094 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (122) and cellphones (717) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ± 3 percentage points. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population.