Three-quarters of likely voters believe the nation’s top earners should pay lower, not higher, tax rates, according to a new poll for The Hill.
The big majority opted for a lower tax bill when asked to choose specific rates; precisely 75 percent said the right level for top earners was 30 percent or below.
The current rate for top earners is 35 percent. Only 4 percent thought it was appropriate to take 40 percent, which is approximately the level that President Obama is seeking from January 2013 onward.
The Hill Poll also found that 73 percent of likely voters believe corporations should pay a lower rate than the current 35 percent, as both the White House and Republicans push plans to lower rates.
The new data seem to run counter to several polls that have found support for raising taxes on high-income earners. In an Associated Press-GfK poll released Friday, 65 percent said they favored President Obama’s “Buffett Rule” that millionaires should pay at least 30 percent of their income. And a Pew poll conducted in June found 66 percent of adults favored raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 as a way to tackle the deficit.
But The Hill poll found that a dramatically different picture emerges when voters are asked to specify the “most appropriate” rates....
I think they would be in for an even bigger surprise if people were asked what percentage of income taxes the top 10 percent of earners should pay. Overcoming the Democrat demagoguery on taxes and "fairness" will be the challenge that Republican candidates have in this year's campaign. This poll indicates the approach they should take. I still want to see the poll showing what percentage of taxes should be paid by the top 10 percent. The
correct answer is that the top 10 percent pay in excess of 70 percent of income taxes.
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