Republican presidential candidates touting tax reform may be wasting their time, because voters don’t much like the idea, according the a Gallup poll.
The poll, out Thursday, shows that people mostly like the idea of cutting tax credits and deductions for the rich, but they’re lukewarm about other suggestions such as rate cuts across the board and moves to simplify the tax code.
But those are the parts that GOP candidates argue would spur economic growth.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said that they agreed with proposals to axe deductions and close loopholes available to the “very rich.”
Eliminating the estate tax, also known as the death taxe, also received majority support. But only 47 percent favored simplifying the tax code.
Cutting income tax rates across the board, as touted by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, gets 47 percent support from voters, while 34 percent oppose it and 19 percent don’t have an opinion.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, plan for a 10 percent flat tax for all taxpayers also gets only 45 percent support.
All the GOP contenders propose sweeping supply-side reforms to lower tax rates substantially while broadening the tax base. They say this would spur economic growth.
For the Democrats, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, advocate no tax cuts but, rather, tax hikes on high-income earners to pay for new benefits.
“Tax reform is not a high priority for the average American,” Gallup’s Frank Newport wrote in a commentary. Few people mention tax reform when citing what they think is the America’s most important problem.
Gallup’s polling was done March 9-13, and the questions were asked of between 516 and 559 adults.
