Emily Ekins and Hunter Johnson
53 Percent Say Congress Should Not Let the Tax Cuts Expire; 59 Percent Favor Repealing Green Energy Subsidies to Pay for Permanent Tax Cuts; 54 Percent of Strong Liberals Say Violence Against Rich Sometimes Justified; a Third of Adults Under 30 Like
The Cato Institute’s 2025 Fiscal Policy National Survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted by YouGov, found that 81 percent of Americans say they can’t afford to pay higher taxes next year if the 2017 tax cuts are allowed to expire this year.
As the country prepares for Tax Day tomorrow, the survey found that most think their taxes are too high (55 percent) and believe their tax bill exceeds their fair share (55 percent). However, a bit more than half (51 percent) felt their taxes were handled fairly.
While Democrats and Republicans disagree a lot, they tend to agree their own taxes are too high. Majorities of Republicans (59 percent), independents (56 percent), and Democrats (51 percent) all believe their personal tax bills were excessively high this year.
Most Americans Are Unaware Their Taxes Are About to Increase
A majority (55 percent) of Americans don’t know that the 2017 tax cuts are temporary and set to expire this year. Part of the reason is few people know a great deal (only 9 percent) about the Tax Cuts and Job Act (TCJA), a tax reform law Congress passed in 2017 that included the tax cuts. Only 28 percent know at least a moderate amount about it. More than a third (34 percent) say they know nothing at all about the tax law.
Majority Say Congress Should Extend the 2017 TCJA
When respondents learned that the 2017 tax reform law will expire at the end of 2025, a majority (53 percent) said that Congress should either make the tax cuts permanent (36 percent) or extend them temporarily (17 percent). About a third (34 percent) didn’t know enough to say. About 1 in 10 (13 percent) want Congress to let the tax cuts expire.
Support for extending the tax cuts increases when people learn what happens when they expire. Eighty-five (85 percent) favor extending the 2017 tax cuts when told the average person’s taxes will increase between $1,000 and $2,000 a year. This includes 57 percent who would favor making the tax cuts permanent and 28 percent who would extend them temporarily. Fifteen percent (15 percent) would let them expire and allow taxes to increase.
Public opposition to extending the tax cuts doesn’t move much, however, after learning that the tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by about $5 trillion over the next 10 years. Knowing this, 82 percent favor extending the 2017 tax cuts, including 50 percent who would make the tax cuts permanent, 32 percent who would cut them temporarily, and 17 percent who would let them expire.
Support for making the tax cuts permanent soars to 75 percent support when framed as “businesses and families need stability of the tax code to plan for the future” so the tax cut should be extended.
81 Percent Say They Can’t Afford to Pay Higher Taxes Next Year
If Congress does not extend the 2017 tax cuts, an overwhelming share—81 percent—of Americans worry they cannot afford to pay higher taxes next year. While many may not have heard much about the 2017 tax law or its tax cuts, they know they can’t afford a tax hike.
Plurality Think Expiring Tax Cuts Will Harm the Economy
One in 10 Americans (11 percent) think allowing the 2017 TJCA tax cuts to expire will help the economy. A plurality (43 percent) believe expiring tax cuts will harm the economy, 17 percent think it will have no impact, and nearly a third (30 percent) don’t know what to expect.
Many also expect their own personal tax bill to increase (45 percent), few think it will decrease (5 percent), and about a quarter think it will stay the same (23 percent). A quarter don’t know (26 percent) what will happen.
Plurality Believe the United States Can Afford the Tax Cuts
A plurality (45 percent) think the United States can afford to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, 21 percent say they think the country cannot afford to do so, and about a third (34 percent) say they don’t know.
Americans also think extending the tax cuts is worth the cuts to federal spending that would be required. The public disagrees that the tax cuts should be allowed to expire for fear of cutting federal spending. Sixty-one percent (61 percent) “disagree” that Congress should let the tax cuts expire because “it won’t be worth the federal spending cuts necessary to make them permanent.” This comports with additional findings in the survey that an overwhelming majority (76 percent) of Americans say the government spends too much money and supports 40 percent across-the-board cuts.
Tax Reform Priorities: A Middle-Class Tax Cut
Americans have priorities in mind for their ideal tax reform. The survey found the top two priorities include reducing taxes on the poor (61 percent) and reducing taxes on the middle class (59 percent). Other priorities include reducing your own taxes (48 percent), encouraging savings (39 percent), expanding the child tax credit (31 percent), limiting access to tax credits to US citizens only (30 percent), encouraging investment (28 percent), raising money to pay for government services and programs (25 percent), and ensuring people don’t get too wealthy (14 percent).
Reform priorities vary considerably by political orientation. Strong liberals were the only political group to identify expanding the child tax credit as a top priority (59 percent). Strong conservatives were the only political group to identify limiting access to tax credits to only US citizens (53 percent) as a top priority.
One tax priority that all groups agree on is reducing taxes on the middle class. Successful tax reform strategies will emphasize if/how their policies provide a tax cut for this group.
Tax Reform Details
The survey explored attitudes about specific provisions in the 2017 TCJA.
Notably, most Americans say they prefer an approach aligned with what the 2017 TCJA was attempting to do. Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) say they prefer lower tax rates while eliminating most deductions and tax credits. Conversely, 26 percent say they prefer to keep most tax deductions and tax credits but have overall higher tax rates.
Americans Favor Full Capital Expensing
Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of Americans favor extending “full capital expensing,” which allows businesses to deduct the cost of new machinery and investments upfront. When given additional information as to the benefits and costs, 57 percent say full capital expensing “should be allowed because it encourages businesses to invest and grow.” In comparison, 43 percent say it should “not be allowed because it would reduce tax revenue and prevent businesses from paying their fair share of taxes.”
Americans Want to Lift SALT Cap
At first, 64 percent of Americans say they favor extending the $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions on federal taxes. However, support flips when the public hears arguments for and against it. Fifty-seven percent (57 percent) say we should remove the cap on SALT deductions because it “avoids double taxing people on both state and federal taxes.” In comparison, 43 percent say Congress should keep the SALT cap “because it stops high tax states from relying on federal taxes to support their spending.”
Americans Favor Extending Business Tax Cuts
Americans support other TCJA tax cuts, including:
- 60 percent favor extending the tax deduction for business research and development expenses.
- 71 percent favor extending the qualified business income deduction, which lowers the top marginal tax rate on pass-through business income, often for small businesses, from about 40 percent to 30 percent.
Americans Want to Eliminate Taxes on Tips
The public favors eliminating taxes paid on tips. When presented with two arguments in favor and against, 61 percent agree we should “eliminate taxes paid on tips” because “it is important to cut taxes on servers, hairstylists, and other tipped workers.” In contrast, 39 percent say “we should not eliminate the tax on tips” because “it is unfair to only cut taxes for some workers; instead taxes should be cut for all workers.” It’s unclear how attitudes would change if the question asked about taxing other forms of performance-based compensation, such as bonuses.
Divided Attitudes on Corporate Taxes
The public is divided about what Congress should do, if anything, about corporate taxes. A plurality (45 percent) say they want to keep corporate tax rates at 21 percent, 33 percent want to increase the corporate rate, and 20 percent want to decrease it.
When asked about specific policy proposals, 58 percent oppose lowering the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 percent, and 57 percent favor raising the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent. The survey found that part of the reason is that 57 percent of Americans believe corporate business “can afford to pay more.”
Attitudes change, however, when people consider the impact corporate tax rates have on jobs and wages. When considering that, 60 percent agree Congress should lower the corporate tax rate “because it brings business and jobs back to the United States.” Nevertheless, 38 percent think it will have no impact on jobs and wages, and 22 percent think it will increase both. Thirty-eight percent (38 percent) believe hiking the corporate tax rate will hurt jobs and wages.
Opinions also shift when respondents consider that the US corporate tax rate is in line with other developed countries. In that case, a little more than half (51 percent) agree that “the US corporate tax rate should stay where it is because it is similar to other developed countries.”
9 in 10 Support Universal Savings Accounts
Americans support the creation of a new tax-preferred savings product. Nine in 10 (88 percent) of Americans support creating universal savings accounts, which allow people to save and invest in an account where their money can grow tax-free and withdrawn any time. The product is universally popular with overwhelming majorities of Democrats (88 percent), Republicans (89 percent), and independents (87 percent) supporting their creation.
54 Percent of Strong Liberals Say Violence Against Rich May Be Justified
About a fifth (21 percent) of Americans believe that violent action against the rich is sometimes justified, while 79 percent say it is not ever justified.
Notably, a majority (54 percent) of strong liberals believe that violence against the rich is sometimes justified, compared to 9 percent of strong conservatives. Young Americans (40 percent) are also more willing to justify violence against the rich.
A Third of Adults Under 30 Support Communism
The survey also took Americans’ temperature about about capitalism, socialism, and even communism. Most Americans have favorable views of capitalism (59 percent) and unfavorable views of socialism (57 percent) and especially communism (86 percent).
Some groups stand out with greater support for socialism than capitalism. For instance, more Democrats have positive views of socialism (67 percent) than capitalism (50 percent). Strong liberals lead the way with 82 percent having favorable views of socialism compared to 28 percent who feel positive toward capitalism. Among Americans under 30, 62 percent feel favorable toward socialism, and 50 percent feel favorable toward capitalism.
Only 14 percent of Americans have favorable views of communism, while 86 percent have unfavorable views. Some groups like communism more than others. The percentages of Americans who feel favorable toward communism are as follows:
- 34 percent under 30.
- 29 percent of strong liberals.
- 28 percent of residents in big cities.
- 26 percent of African Americans.
90 Percent Say There’s Nothing Wrong with Making Lots of Money
Most Americans have favorable feelings toward the rich and what it takes to become rich:
- 9 in 10 Americans say “there is nothing wrong with trying to make as much money as one honestly can.”
- 62 percent agree that we all benefit when people get rich because they “invest their money in new businesses that create jobs and new technology.”
- 71 percent “disagree” with the idea that “it’s immoral to allow people to become billionaires.”
- 54 percent say they feel more admiration than resentment (46 percent) toward the rich.
Full survey toplines found here
Full survey crosstabs found here
Methodology
The Cato Institute 2025 Fiscal Policy Survey was designed and conducted by the Cato Institute in collaboration with YouGov. YouGov collected responses online March 20–26, 2025, from a national sample of 2,000 Americans 18 years of age and older. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2.54 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. Restrictions were put in place to ensure that only the people selected and contacted by YouGov are allowed to participate. A more comprehensive methodology description can be found in the topline and crosstab documents.
Hunter Johnson contributed to this report.