According to Gallup, half of Americans believe what they pay in income tax is too high and those that view their income taxes as fair, 55 percent, is the lowest seen since 2001.
Via Gallup:
Implications
Although a majority of Americans still believe the income taxes they pay are fair, the 55% who say so is the lowest Gallup has measured since 2001, before the first of two rounds of federal income tax cuts went into effect. Since the second round of tax cuts in 2003, income taxes have held at about the same level, though Congress and the president did agree to raise income taxes on the wealthiest Americans as part of the agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff" tax increases that were scheduled to go into effect this year.
It is possible that this tax increase affected how Americans perceive their own federal income taxes, even though very few Americans on a percentage basis would likely have seen an increase. However, nearly all working Americans are now getting less take-home pay since the Social Security payroll tax holiday expired at the beginning of this year.
The percentage of Americans who say their federal income taxes are too high is on the low end of what Gallup has measured historically, but more Americans than in 2012 expect their taxes to go up this year. It is unclear whether taxes will change this year, given that President Obama and the Republicans in Congress disagree on the need for, and the desirability of, tax increases.
Where are your tax dollars being spend? Well Heritage provides a handy infographic breaking it all down. (H/T Hot Air)
Washington spends $1.1 trillion more than it brings in, yet Barack Obama and Democrats claim the nation doesn't have a spending problem and there is no debt crisis?
Obama's answer is not to cut spending, evidenced by the recent sequester battle where the GOP had to fight tooth and nail just to force Obama to reduce the amount of automatic increases to projected spending by 2.4 percent. but to increase taxes even more, by $1 trillion according to his latest budget proposal.
“Of the more than $1 trillion in new taxes, about $800 billion is raised through the individual income tax system, about $125 billion comes from new excise taxes — including new taxes on tobacco and financial companies,” a source familiar with the president’s budget explained. “The remainder comes from reverting back to the 2009 estate tax parameters and other miscellaneous tax increases.”
The national debt as of today is national debt
Debt has increased by more than $6 trillion since Obama took office, which is the largest increase to date under any U.S. president. During the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush, the debt soared by $4.9 trillion. (Source- CBS News, March 2, 2013)
Furthermore, in November 2012, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported the United States incurred a budget deficit of over $1 trillion for the fourth consecutive fiscal year.
This all occurred despite the fact that tax revenue also increased.
According to the CBO, "receipts from individual income taxes grew by $41 billion (or 4 percent), and remained at 7.3 percent of GDP in 2012." More than half of the increase came from withheld taxes.
Further, corporate income taxes rose by 34% and accounted for about 40% of the increase in total revenues, rising by $61 billion and increasing from 1.2% to 1.6% of GDP. (Source- Breitbart and CBO)
The U.S. does not have a revenue problem, it has a massive spending problem, and if Barack Obama is successful in increasing taxes yet again, those believing their income taxes are "fair" will fall below the 2001 levels.
