NCPA Tax Policy - Opinion Poll: How Much Should A Family Pay In Taxes?

Tax Policy

Opinion Poll: How Much Should A Family Pay In Taxes?

Would it be popular to limit the proportion of a family's income the government could take in taxes? And what should that percentage of income be?

Recently, poll-takers for the Polling Company asked 1,000 adults, "How much, as a percentage of their weekly income, should a family of four pay in taxes? Please stop me when I have read the highest percentage that you think is fair."

Some of the results:

Of the 1,000 adults surveyed, 15 percent thought just 5 percent of income was the maximum a family should pay in taxes (see figure).
The most popular choice -- the rate chosen by 26 percent of respondents -- was 10 percent.
The second most popular choice -- chosen by 24 percent -- was 15 percent of income, while 17 percent chose 20 percent of income.
Less than one percent chose any single percentage higher than 35 percent.

Thus a majority of Americans think 15 percent of income -- or less -- is the maximum a family should pay in taxes. By comparison, recently Rep. Bill Archer (R-Texas) proposed capping federal tax revenues at 19 percent of gross domestic product -- compared to the 19.9 percent of GDP the federal government takes today.

And the Tax Foundation reported the combined federal, state and local tax bill for 1997 will claim 38.2 percent of the income of a median two-income family, one earning $54,910.

Source: Editorial, "Three Words," Wall Street Journal, January 28, 1998.

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