Same old story: Most believe tax system unfair The Lowell Sun

By WILL LESTER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- Almost as certain as death and taxes is the public's feeling that the U.S. income tax system is not fair.

An Ipsos Poll released last week found almost six of 10 people, 58 percent, say the system is unjust, a number that is virtually unchanged from two decades ago.

People think the middle class, the self-employed and small businesses pay too much in taxes, the poll found. And they think those with high incomes and big businesses don't pay enough. The survey was conducted in the days before the mid-April deadline for filing income tax returns.

And as many Americans rush to file their income tax returns, President Bush pushed Congress yesterday to pass legislation to make his tax cuts permanent.

"Monday is Tax Day, and that means many of you are busy finishing up your tax returns," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "The good news is that this year Americans will once again keep more of their hard-earned dollars because of the tax cuts we passed in 2001 and 2003."

Bush credits the tax cuts for the nation's economic growth. The president, who is shouldering low job-approval ratings, has been emphasizing the nation's 4.7 percent unemployment rate for March. This latest snapshot of the job market suggests an accelerating economic expansion is putting companies in the mood to hire.

Dissatisfaction with the tax system remains high after numerous changes in tax law since the late 1980s.

The Reagan administration led a tax overhaul two decades ago that significantly lowered tax rates and eliminated or reduced several deductions. The first President Bush abandoned his "read my lips, no new taxes pledge" in a 1990 budget deal that raised taxes.

The Clinton administration won passage in 1993 of a deficit-reduction measure that blended tax increases, budget cuts and rebates for the working poor.

And the second Bush administration pushed successfully for tax cuts that lowered the top income tax rate to 35 percent and slashed tax rates for individuals and manufacturers.

People were most likely to think the middle class is paying too much in taxes, according to the poll.

More than half, 58 percent, said middle-income families pay too much income tax and people were almost as likely, 54 percent, to say that about low-income families.

Six in 10 said high-income families were paying too little in taxes. But 20 years ago, almost eight in 10 said high-income families were paying too little.

http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2006/04/16/news/opinion/opin01.txt

Tax system unfair? Or just unpleasant?

With one of the nation's least favorite dates falling on a Saturday this year, U.S. taxpayers have been given a brief reprieve. Your income 2005 income tax filing isn't due until April 17 this time around, rather than April 15.

It's very little relief.

Americans don't agree on much these days, but most of us can agree that we don't enjoy paying our taxes. In fact, an Ipsos poll shows that about six in 10 people - a number that remains virtually unchanged over the past 20 years despite numerous reforms of the tax code - believe that the U.S. income tax system is unfair. And, perhaps unlike most opinion poll results, that general figure of 60 percent dissatisfaction is consistent across all income groups, age groups and education levels.

We don't happen to agree on the reasons for our dissatisfaction.

Some of us complain that the tax burden lands unfairly on those with high incomes - the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans do pay nearly 40 percent of all taxes collected. (Of course, they hold more than half the country's wealth, too.

Others believe the rich get too many tax breaks. Six in 10 people polled think the rich get off too easy, although 20 years ago that figure was eight in 10.

Certainly there remains some measure of unfairness to the tax codes, and loopholes that get abused. Only recently was a major loophole closed - one that granted a $25,000 write-off to people who purchased massive SUVs like the Hummer H2 so long as 50 percent of the vehicle's use could be considered work-related. The intent of the credit was to encourage business investment in new trucks and the credit no doubt could offer farmers a bit of a break. but the result was rewarding owners of gas-guzzlers like the Hummer and its kin, while folks who bought fuel-saving hybrid cars were offered credits of around $2,000.

Meanwhile, people who drive some serious gas-sippers - like any of several Volkswagen diesel models that get 40 to 50 mpg, comparable to many of the hybrids - are offered no tax credit at all.

That's tax code unfairness, isn't it?

Individual situations aside, most of us can agree that paying our taxes is simply unpleasant, and that leads to a dissatisfying experience.

Government's best solution to our woes would be to spend less money; that isn't happening anytime soon, it seems.

So, on Monday we file, and we gripe, and we go back to our jobs to earn our keep, much of which we share with the government.

It's a love-hate relationship, we suppose. Government loves our money and we hate to give it, but in this marriage, divorce is not an option.