Questions - Tax Rates - December 22, 2012

National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted December 22, 2012
By Rasmussen Reports

1* A proposal has been made to throw out the existing federal income tax code and replace it with a simpler system that has fewer deductions and lower tax rates. Thinking of all the issues facing the nation today, how important is it to replace the existing federal income tax code with something simpler?

2* The federal income tax includes personal deductions for many things including mortgage payments and charitable contributions. Who do tax deductions help the most—middle class Americans or upper-income Americans?

3* A proposal has been made that would reduce the personal income tax deductions for people who make more than $250,000 a year. Personal deductions would be completely eliminated for those who earn more than $400,000 a year. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?

4* A proposal has been made that would make the first $20,000 of income earned by anyone tax free. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?

5* A proposal has been made that would eliminate all tax deductions for upper income Americans and let everyone earn up to $20,000 a year tax free. After that, everyone would pay 10% in taxes on their first $50,000 in taxable income, 15% on income between $50,000 and $100,000, and 20% on all income over $100,000. If it raised the same amount of money as the current tax code, would you favor or oppose this proposal?

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence