The Tricky Tax System

Today was the deadline for 2011 tax returns and a recent poll says that most people believe the revenue system benefits the wealthy and is unfair to average workers. 68% said it benefits the rich while 29% disagreed. About taxes being too high, it is mainly those between the age of 35 and 65 that think their taxes are too high. Younger Americans who have lower paying jobs and senior citizens who are fixed on a set income don't complain nearly as much as those who are in their peak earning years. However, people like David Levine (the former chief economist for the investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein) are actually asking for higher taxes. As you can see, taxes are a tricky area. From the mouth of Nixon, "We shall never make taxation popular but we can make taxation fair."