Americans Question Fairness of Taxes

Many Americans believe they pay more than their fair share of taxes, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll.

The poll found 50 percent of American adults believe someone who makes twice as much money as they do pays less than twice as much in taxes. Only 15 percent think the higher-earning taxpayer pays twice as much in taxes, while 14 percent believe more than twice as much tax is paid.

A plurality of those surveyed -- 45 percent -- think someone who makes half as much money as they do pays less than half as much in taxes. Seventeen percent believe that individual does pay half as much in taxes; 14 percent think more than half as much is paid.

The survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted Feb. 21-22. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.