--- ---  # Poll: 86% of Voters Believe Paying Taxes Is a 'Civic Duty' by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 3, 2016 9:01 PM UTC  Donald Trump posing for photos above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City on June 7, 1995\. Trump's business losses in 1995 were so large that they could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times. Donald Trump posing for photos above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City on June 7, 1995\. Trump's business losses in 1995 were so large that they could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times.Kathy Willens—AP by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 3, 2016 9:01 PM UTC The vast majority of of Americans casting a ballot this November believe that paying taxes is [a “civic duty,”](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2016/images/10/03/2016.race.pdf) according to a survey released Monday. In the CNN/ORC poll, 86% of registered voters surveyed believe that paying taxes is an American civic duty, while only 12% said that taxes are an “unnecessary burden” which are best avoided. Supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump were in agreement, with 79% saying that paying taxes was a civic duty. A [leaked copy of the billionaire’s partial tax return](http://time.com/4515840/donald-trump-tax-records-loss/) showed that Trump may have been able to pay no federal income tax for [more than a decade](http://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/). Trump’s taxes have long been an issue on the 2016 campaign trail and he has continued to refuse to release his tax returns, a custom of presidential elections. Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Trump 47% to 42% nationally among likely voters surveyed. The survey was conducted by ORC International from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 with a sample of 1,335 registered voters (with margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent) and 1,213 likely voters (with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent). Donald Trump: 86% of Voters Say Paying Taxes Is 'Civic Duty' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4517160/donald-trump-voter-taxes-civic-duty-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4517160/donald-trump-voter-taxes-civic-duty-poll/"},"headline":"Poll: 86% of Voters Believe Paying Taxes Is a 'Civic Duty'","datePublished":"2016-10-03T21:01:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:58:58.653Z","description":"Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in the latest CNN/ORC poll","url":"https://time.com/4517160/donald-trump-voter-taxes-civic-duty-poll/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Polls","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Campaign 2016-Trump-Taxes","caption":"File-This June 7, 1995, file photo shows real estate magnate Donald Trump posing for photos above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City. Trump's business losses in 1995 were so large","creditText":"Kathy Willens—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4517160/donald-trump-voter-taxes-civic-duty-poll/","name":"Poll: 86% of Voters Believe Paying Taxes Is a 'Civic Duty'"}}]}] ```