Poll: Tax Code Too Complex
Congress has treated the tobacco companies fairly
By Keating Holland/CNN
WASHINGTON (April 10) -- Have you finished your taxes yet? If you feel that the tax code has gotten more complex, you're not alone.
The latest CNN/TIME poll shows 67 percent currently believe that the federal tax code is too complex; only 55 percent felt that way last year.
One thing hasn't changed, a majority of Americans continue to say that their federal taxes are too high. Nonetheless, a majority oppose abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, although anti-IRS feeling has risen in the past year.
The results are based on interviews with 1,011 adults on April 8-9, and the survey has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points, depending on the question.
|
Is the Federal Tax Code Too Complex?
|
|
Yes
|
No
| |
Now
|
67%
|
28%
| |
Last year
|
55
|
38
|
|
Your Federal Taxes
| |
Too high
|
62%
| |
Too low
|
2
| |
About right
|
34
|
|
Should the IRS Be Abolished?
|
|
Yes
|
No
| |
Now
|
39%
|
55%
| |
Last year
|
20
|
74
|
Most Americans believe that Congress has treated the tobacco companies fairly, although the public is split over what the government should do now that those companies have pulled out of the agreement recently passed by the Senate Commerce Committee.
A third say that Congress should try to pass restrictions on tobacco that the companies agree to voluntarily; 28 percent say Congress should force a settlement on the companies; 31 percent want tobacco regulations left as they are now.
Two-thirds believe that tobacco companies purposely target young people to get them to start smoking. But a general tolerance for smokers and smoking remains high. Seventy-two percent believe that, although smoking is a bad habit, everyone should have the right to make a choice about whether to smoke. Only 26 percent believe that society should do everything possible to stamp out smoking. Those figures are virtually unchanged since 1994.
|
Has Congress Treated Tobacco Companies Fairly?
| |
Yes
|
58%
| |
No
|
31
| |
Sampling error: +/-3% pts
|
|
How Should Congress Regulate Tobacco Companies?
| |
Get them to agree voluntarily
|
33%
| |
Force a settlement on them
|
28
| |
No new regulations
|
31
| |
Sampling error: +/-3% pts
|
|
Do Tobacco Companies Target Young People?
| |
Yes
|
65%
| |
No
|
32
| |
Sampling error: +/-3% pts
|
|
News
Click here