Fox News Poll: Record number say their taxes are too high

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Suddenly, the GOP and Democrats agree on taxes

House Republicans have entered a tax-credit minefield.

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

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.

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

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.  

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.