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New Poll Finds Bipartisan Consensus Among Voters on Need for Tax Reform

Voters want tax code to give middle class a break, keep jobs in America

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September 26, 2017

There is a bipartisan consensus among American voters that Congress should make passing a comprehensive tax reform bill that lowers taxes for the middle class a top priority, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

The poll, conducted last week, found that three in four voters say tax reform should either be a top priority (43 percent) or an important priority (30 percent) for Congress. Only 10 percent said tax reform is "not too important" and a lesser 4 percent said tax reform "should not be done."

There appears to be a consensus among voters on what should be prioritized within the bill, with voters from both parties saying it is most important to them that the tax rate be lowered for the middle class. Forty-nine percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans said lowering middle class taxes is most important.

Voters overwhelmingly think the current tax code has too many loopholes (75 percent), is too complex (72 percent), fails to keep jobs in America (56 percent), and is unfair to individuals (67 percent).

"Poll after poll shows that a strong majority of Americans widely support fixing our broken tax system and lowering tax rates for working families," said Corry Bliss of the American Action Network, the group that commissioned the poll.

"Americans recognize that a complex and unfair tax code has caused jobs and companies to flee our country. It’s time for Congress to act and make this right," said Bliss. "There’s nothing more important for middle-class families, our country and our economy than seeing lawmakers come together to pass meaningful tax reforms that will fuel growth for all."

One of the other top issues for voters, according to the poll, is creating a tax code that rewards businesses for prioritizing American workers. A majority of voters said it is very important that tax reform create incentives for businesses to create jobs in America, manufacture products in America, and be headquartered in America.

The poll also found that a majority of voters feel they are being overtaxed by both the federal government and their states, with only about a quarter of respondents saying they thought the current tax rate was either too low or just right.

Republicans are viewed as the preferred party to get something done on tax reform, with 41 percent saying they think congressional Republicans can be trusted to handle tax reform and 35 percent saying they trust congressional Democrats more.

The American Action Network poll was conducted by Paragon Insights, which surveyed 1,992 registered voters from September 19 to September 21 last week. It has a margin of error of 2 percent.

Published under: Tax Reform