Poll: Majority OK with tax bill

The poll of 1,001 adults, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, comes as policymakers in Washington debate how best to get federal budget deficits in line. 

On Wednesday, President Obama outlined a $4-trillion, 12-year vision of deficit reduction, with spending cuts doing half the work and new tax revenue and lower interest payments on the national debt doing the rest. In his speech, the president reiterated his call for the Bush tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest taxpayers.

For their part, Republicans roundly panned the president’s speech and called his proposal to raise taxes a non-starter. The House GOP’s fiscal 2012 budget, largely crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), would roll back spending $5.8 trillion over 10 years and, compared to the president’s 2012 budget, reduce deficits by $4.4 trillion.

According to the AP poll, 51 percent of respondents expected to receive a tax refund this year, down from 57 percent two years ago. Around six in 10 said they had received a refund a year ago.

The AP story on the poll said that the percentage of Americans who thought their tax bill was fair stayed pretty consistent across all income levels. 

But it also said that those in the prime of their working career — basically between 30 and 65 — were less likely to say they paid a fair amount than those who were not. Democrats were also more content with their tax bill than Republicans, as were liberals and centrists compared to conservatives.  

This year’s filing deadline for federal taxes is April 18.