--- description: According to new research, over half of Americans think corporations and wealthy individual are not paying their "fair share" of taxes. title: Report: Most Americans Think Wealthy Don't Pay Enough Taxes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd686fc2ee3edc7a/69869d3f3bc9997dd01a4b01/cash-money-dollars.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Taxes](/tag/taxes/) ## Taxes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Most Americans Think the Wealthy Don't Pay 'Fair Share' of Taxes, Poll Says  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 6:00 PM CUT  Bundles of one dollar bills Bundles of one dollar billsChris Clor—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 6:00 PM CUT Americans’ chief complaint about the federal tax system is the feeling that some corporations and wealthy individuals are not paying their fair share of taxes, according to a poll released Thursday. The Pew Research Center poll conducted in late February found that 64% of Americans are bothered “a lot” by “the feeling that corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes.” Sixty-seven percent said the same of wealthy individuals. The poll, which comes before the April 15 tax deadline, showed a widening partisan gap in how Americans view the tax system. Fifty percent of Republicans surveyed felt they were paying more than their fair share of taxes, compared with 30% of Democrats. These percentages were far closer together in the 2011 survey: then, 37% of Republicans and 38% of Democrats felt they were paying more than their fair share. Overall, 59% of Americans think Congress needs to “completely change” the federal tax system, with 66% of Republicans, compared to 48% of Democrats. The poll of 1,504 adults, conducted February 18-22, has a margin of error of 2.9%. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3751254/pew-research-taxes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3751254/pew-research-taxes/"},"headline":"Most Americans Think the Wealthy Don't Pay 'Fair Share' of Taxes, Poll Says","datePublished":"2015-03-19T18:00:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:17:53.973Z","description":"Overall, 59% of Americans think Congress needs to \"completely change\"","url":"https://time.com/3751254/pew-research-taxes/","keywords":["Taxes","Economy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd686fc2ee3edc7a/69869d3f3bc9997dd01a4b01/cash-money-dollars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd686fc2ee3edc7a/69869d3f3bc9997dd01a4b01/cash-money-dollars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cash Money Dollars","caption":"Cash Money Dollars","creditText":"Chris Clor—Getty Images","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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/taxes/","name":"Taxes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3751254/pew-research-taxes/","name":"Most Americans Think the Wealthy Don't Pay 'Fair Share' of Taxes, Poll Says"}}]}] ```