MSN and Zogby have released a new poll on how Americans feel about taxes.  Time for a fisking.  According to the article:

"Most Americans say they’re paying their fair share in taxes."

Good, we are at war and this is not the time to say you are paying too much in taxes unless you are now or have recently been spending some time in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

"But, according to a recent MSN-Zogby poll, that doesn’t mean they’re happy about it."

Our troops probably don’t care if you are happy about it. 

"People with $75,000 to $100,000 in annual income were most likely (45%) to say they pay too much in taxes, followed by those making more than $100,000 (43%)."

This makes sense to me.  The general income area of 75 to 100 K is where higher rates start to kick in ($77,100 for an individual) and deductions, such as IRA contributions and student loan payments, start to fade out.  A person in this area could easily be caught in the middle between higher rates and fewer deductions.  This area is also sort of a partisan battleground, with Democrats seeing $75 – 100 as high income and Republicans seeing it as middle-class level.  As people in it will almost always see themselves as middle class, there could certainly be some resentment toward being included with higher incomes in verious brackets.

"Just 3% said they pay too little."

About 3% of Americans probably consider themselves socialists of varying degrees.  I assume these are the same 3%. 

"About 84% of Americans said they use online tools, tax software or hire a professional to prepare their returns. Only 13% said they prepare their taxes by hand on paper."

I admire those 13%.  I used to be one of them, but even a chimp could do those 1040EZ returns from when I was younger.  Now we use Turbo Tax.  I give it my full endoursement. 

"The results reflect a tax system that is often seen as too costly and cumbersome. In fact, the tax burden on Americans is lighter than in most developed countries, according to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic research group."

The tax system IS too costly and cumbersome, especially for people who have not yet discovered Turbo Tax.  I think the system should be simple enough for all but the most sophisticated and complicated investors and businesspeople to do their own taxes.  The second sentence starts with, "In fact," but actually does not refute the first sentence, as a costly and cumbersome system exists whether the burden is higher or lower than our European friends.  We should be able to do our own taxes whatever the rates are.

"Still, the Internal Revenue Service said Americans spend about 1.6 billion hours preparing taxes each year."

That is a lot of time that could be better spent doing just about anything else.  That’s 5.3 hours per person, probably more for accountants and Anna Nicole Smith suitors, less for infants and cyborgs, and much less next year than in the past for Don Imus.

"According to the MSN-Zogby poll, the poorest Americans — those earning less than $35,000 — were the most likely group to say they’re paying their fair share (62%) and least likely to say they’re paying too much (30%)."

As people earning less than that amount have very little taxable income and what is taxable is taxed at a very low rate, these seem to be reasonable poll results.  I’m guessing most of the 30% who say they pay too much are retirees on fixed incomes referring to their property taxes.  They are probably right in many cases.

"A system where everyone pays the same flat tax rate regardless of income is most popular among older Americans, with at least half of those over 50 supporting such a proposal. A majority of those earning more than $75,000 (54%) support it."

Eventually, I hope that the flat tax will come.  However, as more and more people use tax preparation software, the calls for a flat tax may unfortunately diminish as one of its two main arguments was simplicity.

"When it comes to preparing income tax returns, 38% of Americans said they hire a professional. The most likely to hire help were people who earn more than $100,000 (45%) and those who identified themselves as Republican (43%). Forty-six percent of Americans said they use online tools or tax software to prepare their tax returns."

Eventually that last figure will be about 95%.  I am most interested by the converse of the above figures – that most people over $100,000 (or 55%) still do their own taxes.  H & R Block and Jackson Hewitt may be ok for now, but I would not have them in the long-term investment portfolio.  If your profit margins depend on convincing people to take horrible pre-refund loans, you are in trouble.

"Most Americans (79%) said they don’t fear a tax audit. Wealthier Americans were more likely to say they fear a tax audit."

In related news, skiers are more likely to fear avalanches than swimmers and attractive high school girls away at summer camp are more likely to fear hockey-mask wearing maniacs than their brash, quarterback boyfriends who have no need to fear such a thing as the noises in the next room are probably just their friends trying to scare them. 

"The interactive survey of 10,642 adults nationwide was conducted March 5-7 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point."

I probably didn’t need to include this line.