Poll: Only half of Americans think they pay too much tax
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Time is drawing near to tally up and turn in those 2013 tax returns. We take up this topic and others with Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll.
The majority of Americans either hire an accountant or tax service or do their own taxes with tax-prepration software or a website — very few these days sit at the kitchen table with a calculator and a pile of broken pencils to complete their 1040s.
When those forms are turned in, only about half of Americans think they’ve paid too much. We’ll look at the history of Americans’ perceptions of whether the tax they pay is too high, too low or just right — and perceptions of whether high-, low-, and middle-income earners and corporations pay too much or too little.
The stock market has been gyrating this week. Where is the best place to to put your money today: stocks, real estate, gold, CDs, bonds? You’ll have to talk to a financisal advisor about that, but we can reveal some surprising differences in views on this question over time, by age and by politics.
Speaking of finances, Newport also tells us what the average American thinks is the No. 1 financial problem facing his or her family.
We’ll look at attitudes about the Affordable Care Act. Now that the dust is settling after the enrollment period ended in March 31, have attitudes changed?
And we look as some new evidence that the ACA almost certainly has reduced the number of Americans with no health insurance — one of its major goals. This is a big deal.
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