AP News, April 13th, 2007
Demographics and details from the AP-AOL poll on public attitudes about taxes, electronic filing and tax deadlines. The poll was conducted by Ipsos, an international polling firm.
OVERALL: Most American households, 54 percent, will file their tax returns electronically or online this year, an AP-AOL Money & Finance poll finds. Only a fifth of those polled in early April were aware that this year's deadline is April 17, two days later than usual. Just over half of Americans, 53 percent, say the taxes they pay are fair; 45 percent say the taxes they pay are unfair.
FEELINGS ABOUT E-FILING: On the whole, Americans who file the taxes for their households say that electronic or online filing is convenient and safe. Nine in 10, 89 percent, say online filing is at least somewhat convenient, 67 percent say "very convenient." But just 42 percent say it is "very safe" and about as many say filing taxes electronically is somewhat safe. Older respondents are more likely to say they will mail in their tax returns than younger respondents.
TAX FAIRNESS: About one in six, 16 percent, say the taxes they pay are very fair, while twice that many, 37 percent, say somewhat fair. Some 45 percent feel the taxes they pay are unfair _ 20 percent say somewhat unfair, a quarter very unfair. Those at the top and bottom of the income scales are evenly divided, while those in middle-income categories are more likely to feel that the taxes they pay are fair.
TAX REFUND: Two-thirds of Americans say they expect to receive tax refunds this year, about the same as reported receiving refunds last year. Most expecting a refund will either save or invest it, 36 percent; use it to pay off bills, 27 percent, or use it to pay down debt, 21 percent.
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted April 2-4 by Ipsos, an international polling company. The poll included 880 individuals who have primary or shared responsibility for filing the tax returns for their households. The margin of sampling error for all adults is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 3.5 percentage points among those with responsibility for filing the taxes for their households.
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Analysis by AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey specialist Dennis Junius.
(Corrects to AP-AOL in lead to conform to second reference to AP-AOL Money & Finance poll. )
