Americans like many aspects of Trump's tax plan — but they may not like its outcome

pulse

May 17, 2017 2:58 PM

Aspects like cuts for small businesses and childcare credits are popular, but cuts for corporations are not.

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Americans are split on the various elements of President Donald Trump's recently released tax plan, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday.

Respondents were in favor of tax credits for childcare (65% support), doubling the standard deduction for federal taxes (59% support) and eliminating the estate tax (50% support).

There was also support for lowering taxes on small businesses — 63% of those surveyed said small businesses should see their tax rate drop to a 15% rate, while just 15% opposed it.

Other major aspects of the Trump plan were not as popular,

For instance, 43% of those surveyed said they opposed the corporate tax rate being cut to 15% from its current 35% federal statutory rate, while 34% are in favor. In general, people surveyed also agreed that corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes, with 59% saying they pay too little.

And just 37% supported eliminating the alternative minimum tax, which is designed to ensure wealthier Americans that take a large amount of deductions pay a baseline income tax.

Many of the provisions in the Trump tax plan, according to tax experts, would benefit the wealthiest Americans. Such an outcome would likely not be a popular one, according to the Morning Consult/Politico poll.

Sixty-two percent of people surveyed said rich Americans pay too little in taxes, while 15% say the wealthy pay the right amount, and just 12% say they pay too much. Among Republicans, 49% said wealthy Americans pay too little, 21% the right amount, and 19% too much.

Across party lines, the biggest point of agreement in the poll, however, was that something must be shake up the current tax system. And while it's not clear if Americans support Trump's tax plan, the poll showed they

Overall, 72% of people said the tax system is not fair to individuals, 51% said the code is not fair to businesses, and 73% said the system favors the wealthy.

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