Ahead of Tax Day, a new YouGov survey asked Americans about their views on their own taxes, how different income groups are taxed, and the Republican tax plans.
About two-thirds (65%) of Americans believe the wealthy pay too little in taxes. Very few say the same about the middle class (3%) or the poor (8%). Democrats (87%) are more likely than Independents (67%) and Republicans (43%) to say the wealthy pay too little in taxes.
Majorities of Americans think the middle class (58%) and the poor (55%) pay too much in taxes. 8% think the wealthy do.
About half (52%) of Americans say they pay more in taxes than they did 10 years ago. Far fewer say they’re paying the same amount they did in 2015 (15%) or that they’re paying less in taxes now (11%). Among people with a family income of at least $100,000, 73% say they pay more in taxes now than they did 10 years ago.
About half (48%) of Americans believe that wealthy people pay less in taxes than they did 10 years ago. Only 3% believe middle-class people are paying less in taxes now than they were 10 years ago and 9% think poor people are paying less now.
In April 2022, fewer Americans said they thought poor people (37%) or middle-class people (53%) paid more in taxes than they did 10 years ago. In October 2017, fewer (41%) said they currently pay more in taxes than they did 10 years ago.
About two-thirds (69%) of Americans say they have filed or plan to file taxes this year; 14% do not and 16% are not sure. Americans who have a family income of $100,000 or more (85%) or an income between $50,000 and $100,000 (77%) are more likely than people with an income under $50,000 (60%) to say they plan to file taxes.
Among people who have filed or will file taxes in 2025, 54% say they prepare their taxes themselves. 45% have someone else prepare them. Most people with a family income of $100,000 or less (58%) will prepare their taxes themselves; a smaller share of people with a family income of at least $100,000 will prepare their taxes themselves (45%).
The vast majority (85%) of people who plan to prepare their own taxes will be doing so with tax preparation software. 12% will be filing using paper forms and schedules from the IRS.
85% of Americans would strongly or somewhat support the IRS providing an online tax preparation and filing tool that would be free for Americans to use. 90% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans would support this.
The IRS does offer an online tax preparation and filing tool that’s free for many Americans to use. But few plan to: Among Americans who plan to file taxes, 17% say they will use the IRS’s free online tax preparation and filing tool this year. 62% say they will not use this.
About two-thirds (69%) of Americans think the federal tax system is too complicated. But less than half (38%) say they would be willing to let the IRS automatically calculate a tax refund or bill for them if this option existed. 34% would rather do their taxes themselves and 28% are unsure.
Democrats (49%) are more likely than Independents (37%) and Republicans (28%) to say if the IRS offered the option to automatically calculate a tax refund or bill, they’d prefer this option.
The survey also asked Americans about their feelings on the Republican tax plan and how they think it might affect most people.
About half (48%) of Americans have been following the news about the Republican tax plan being debated in Congress at least somewhat closely. 61% of Americans with an annual family income of $100,000 or more are following news about the plan at least somewhat closely. 46% of Americans with a lower family income say the same.
About one-third (31%) support the plan and 34% oppose it. 35% have no opinion. Republicans (65%) are far more likely than Independents (22%) and Democrats (6%) to support it. People with an annual family income of $100,000 or more are more likely than those with a lower family income to support this (37% vs. 30%).
Perception of how the plan would affect Americans is mixed. 28% think they will pay less taxes under the new plan, 23% think they will pay about the same amount, 17% think they will pay less, and 33% are not sure how it will affect them.
About one-third (36%) think most Americans will pay more under the new plan. Smaller shares think that most Americans will pay about the same (17%) or less (21%) under the new plan.
Democrats (69%) are far more likely than Independents (31%) or Republicans (9%) to say they think most Americans will pay more under the new plan.
Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to believe that the new tax plan will lead to bigger tax bills for the middle class (63% vs. 14%) and the poor (59% vs. 11%).
The element of the tax plan asked about in the poll that has the most support among Americans is eliminating federal taxes on Social Security benefits: 77% support this. 71% would support eliminating federal taxes on tips and 66% would support eliminating federal taxes on overtime pay.
The measure with the least support is reducing funding for Medicaid (19%).
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See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted March 5 - 7, 2025 among 1,132 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Joe Raedle / Staff)
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