Overwhelming Support for Taxpayers Giving the Least They Can

Updated
Taxes at home poll
Cassandra Hubbart, DailyFinance

Here's a classic of unsurprising survey results: A strong majority of Americans support their fellow citizens' doing everything they can within the law to minimize their tax obligations, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Eighty-five percent of respondents say they approve of people trying to pay the lowest taxes legally allowable; 56 percent approve strongly. Thirteen percent disapprove.

More than half of Americans – 56 percent – view the federal tax system unfavorably. But the agency charged with enforcing the rules of that system came out surprisingly well: 49 percent say they see the IRS favorably, while 48 percent take the opposite view.

Among those who tend to give their enthusiastic assent to keeping one's tax bill low are Republicans, conservatives, older adults and college graduates.

As the results suggest, support for using the system to one's advantage doesn't necessarily entail support for the system itself. In a poll conduced last month, Americans favored limiting deductions for higher-income taxpayers 56 to 38 percent.

So do it as long as it's legal, all you second-home mortgage deduction-takers, but don't assume your fellow citizens think it ought to stay that way.

poll results
ABC News

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