Poll: Most want tax cuts but say soak the rich

Americans are reacting negatively to the idea of giving large companies and wealthy people some breaks along with middle-class taxpayers. 

A CBS News poll released Wednesday shows that majorities want to see increases, not cuts, for those taxpayers.

But six in 10 say they could approve of the wealthy getting a break as long as the rest of the United States gets the same tax relief.

It’s difficult to cut taxes for only small businesses and the middle class because top earners only pay premium rates on incomes over $418,400 – a number that goes to $470,700 for married couples.

Below that threshold, they pay the same rates as everyone else.

 

President Donald Trump sat on Tuesday with manufacturers and small business lobbyists in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to promote the Republican tax reform plan as a boon to job creators

A CBS News poll released Wednesday found that most Americans want taxes increased for the wealthy and big corporations, but say the middle class and small businesses should get a cut

A CBS News poll released Wednesday found that most Americans want taxes increased for the wealthy and big corporations, but say the middle class and small businesses should get a cut

Trump tweeted Tuesday night that the plan scheduled for a Thursday launch will represent the 'biggest ever' tax relief for Americans

Trump tweeted Tuesday night that the plan scheduled for a Thursday launch will represent the ‘biggest ever’ tax relief for Americans

A pro-Trump group, ‘The Middle Class Project,’ will try to convince taxpayers with a new ad debuting Thursday.

So when low income earners’ rates are slashed, as Trump and the Republicans propose to do, everyone – including the super-rich – sees the same tax relief.

Most Americans, 54 per cent, believe tax cuts in general would be good for the U.S. economy. But few see it as a top priority even as congressional Republicans plan to put their plan on a fast track after they release it to the public on Thursday. 

And four in 10 think Trump and his Republican allies in Congress will ultimately raise their taxes.

The president pushed back against that idea on Tuesday night, tweeting that ‘Republican House members are working hard (and late) toward the Massive Tax Cuts that they know you deserve. These will be biggest ever!’

A pro-Trump group, ‘The Middle Class Project,’ will try to convince them otherwise with a new ad debuting Thursday.

The TV spot is titled ‘What’s in it for you?’ and has at least $10 million behind it in ad buys.

The 'What's in it for you?' ad emphasizes Republicans' plan double the standard income deduction from $12,000 to $24,000

The ‘What’s in it for you?’ ad emphasizes Republicans’ plan double the standard income deduction from $12,000 to $24,000

Americans polled by CBS believe the wealthy will be the biggest beneficiaries of a GOP tax plan that will see sunlight on Thursday 

Americans polled by CBS believe the wealthy will be the biggest beneficiaries of a GOP tax plan that will see sunlight on Thursday 

But the same voters would not object to a high-earner tax cut as long as they got the same benefit themselves

But the same voters would not object to a high-earner tax cut as long as they got the same benefit themselves

GOP lawmakers argue – as they have for decades – that corporate tax cuts lead to more jobs. Republican voters agree by a nearly two-to-one margin, 63 per cent. But Democrats are skeptical, making for an overall disagreement by 57 per cnet of voters.

Tax policy is always in the eye of the beholder, with Americans taking a stand based on where they sit.

In the CBS poll, most Americans said big companies aren’t paying their fair share to the government. But they insisted they’re paying either enough or too much.

The one question that brought Republicans and Democrats together concerns 401(k) retirement accounts.

Some Republicans have proposed changing the way tax-exempts contributions to those popular plans are calculated, with some of the tax benefits that are currently immediate being shifted to when Americans reach retirement age.

Don’t go there, say eight in 10 Americans, even if that’s the price they would pay for seeing a smaller overall income tax bill.

President Donald Trump has promised that changes to the tax-deductibility of 401(k) contributions aren’t on the table as Republicans hammer out the final details of their tax code overhaul. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk