Americans Say Government Wastes Half of Every Tax Dollar it Collects

With Tax Day just a few days away,
the latest
Reason-Rupe poll finds that Americans think their
government wastes fifty cents of every dollar they hand over in
taxes. In fact, the middle half of Americans thinks government
wastes anywhere from 30 cents to 80 cents of every tax dollar.

This suggests Americans believe the federal government should be
able to make do with just half of the money it collects each year.
With perceived waste this high, it’s less surprising thatonly 17
percent of Americans think their income taxes did more to improve
society than had they given that money to charity or
invested in private businesses.

Gallup first began asking this question in the late 1970s and
early 1980s, finding that Americans generally thought the
government wasted about 40 cents of every tax dollar. This number
has steadily increased, rising to 46 cents on the dollar in 2002,
and then in September 2011,Gallup
reported Americans’ perception of government waste had
exceeded the 50 percent threshold. Reason-Rupe has continued
re-asking this question since 2012, finding perceived government
waste hit
a record of 60 cents of every dollar in September 2013.
However, since last fall concerns of government waste have fallen
back to 50 cents on the dollar.

Tea party supporters are considerably more likely than their
Republican counterparts who don’t support the movement to perceive
government waste. Tea partiers estimate the government wastes 65
cents of every dollar it collects compared to 55 cents among
regular Republicans who don’t support the movement. Not only does
the average tea partier perceive more waste, their estimates ranged
far wider. The middle fifty percent of tea party responses (the
interquartile range) range from 50 cents to 95 cents on the dollar.
In contrast, the middle fifty percent of regular Republicans ranged
from 35 cents to 75 cents.

Independents perceive more government waste (59 cents) than
Democrats (47 cents) and slightly more than Republicans (55 cents).
Older people (57 cents) were also slightly more likely than younger
Americans (50 cents) to perceive waste. Those with higher levels of
education are less likely to think the government wastes money but
average estimates never drop below 40 cents on the dollar. For
instance, those with high school diplomas estimate government
wastes 59 cents of every tax dollar compared to 44 cents among
those with post-graduate degrees.

While sociodemographic groups vary in their perception of
government waste, they each on average think government wastes
about half of their tax money, which is considerably higher than 20
years ago. 

* Comparison of subgroups shows averages according to the mean
response. Bars represent the interquartile range indicating
responses between the 25th and 75th percentile of
respondents. 

Nationwide telephone poll conducted March 26-30 2014 interviewed
1003 adults on both mobile (503) and landline (500) phones, with a
margin of error +/- 3.6%. Princeton Survey Research Associates
International executed the nationwide Reason-Rupe survey. Columns
may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Full poll results,
detailed tables, and methodology found here. Sign
up for notifications of new releases of the
Reason-Rupe poll here.