Record 70% of voters say their taxes are too high, new Fox News Poll finds

With the tax filing deadline a week away, a record number of voters say their taxes are too high, according to the latest Fox News poll. They are also upset about the wealthy not paying their fair share and how the government uses their money. Three-quarters also think government spending is wasteful; It increased by almost 20 points compared to last year.

Last year, 57% of respondents said most (44%) or nearly all (13%) government spending was inefficient; now that’s up 18 points, with 75% thinking that way (53% a lot, 22% almost all).

FOX NEWS POLL: GENERAL CONCERN ABOUT AI DOES NOT INCLUDE BUSINESSES

The increase in the number of people who think spending is wasteful is seen across most demographics, with the largest increases among Democrats and independents. Three-quarters of Republicans think government spending is wasteful, up from 8 in 10 by March 2025.

Voters are also negative about identifying and reducing the Trump administration’s wasteful government spending; almost two-thirds, 64%, describe their efforts as merely fair (20%) or poor (44%); last March the rate was 56% (13% fair, 43% poor).

While there is broad bipartisan agreement that a significant portion of government spending is wasteful and inefficient (roughly three-quarters of Democrats, Republicans, and independents say this), a sharp partisan divide emerges over the way the Trump administration detects and cuts that waste: Nearly all Democrats (90%) and a majority of independents (80%) say it doesn’t do a good job, while 7 in 10 Republicans (69%) give it a favorable rating.

A record 70 percent of voters think the taxes they pay are too high — up 11 points from last March, surpassing the previous high of 64 percent in March 2024. It also marks the biggest annual increase since the question was first asked in 2004, when 51 percent thought taxes were too high. Majorities of voters consistently say tax burdens are too high.

FOX NEWS POLL: BAD VOTERS SAY WASHINGTON IS OUT OF COMMUNICATION

Compared to last year, groups with the biggest increases in concerns about how much they pay include voters with a master’s degree (+24 points since 2025), very liberal voters (+20), Democratic men (+19), moderates (+19), rural voters (+17), white voters without a college degree (+16) and women over 45 (+16).

What bothers people most about federal income taxes is that the rich don’t pay enough in taxes (38%), although that figure is down slightly from last year’s record high of 45%. Next come concerns about how the government spends tax revenues; This rate increased by 3 points compared to the previous year, reaching 29%.

Other frustrations include the amount of taxes paid (14%), the feeling that too many people are not paying enough (10%), and the complexity of the system (9%).

Democrats (57%) and independents (40%) were most concerned about the rich not paying enough, while Republicans’ biggest concern was the amount the government uses (39%).

“The data shows why Democrats persistently frame budget, spending and tax policy questions as a matter of the rich paying their fair share,” says Republican Daron Shaw, who conducted the Fox News poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Given public doubts about the government’s performance, this is one of the only ways the party can compete on these issues.”

Dissatisfaction with President Trump’s handling of taxes reached a record high of 64%, up 11 points from a year ago.

Dissatisfaction is high across the board, including among Democrats (+9 points disapproval since April 2025), independents (+14), and Republicans (+9).

One more thing…

AI use is growing, but not for tax preparation.

Nearly 9 in 10 voters (87%) say they will not use AI to help them pay taxes this year, while roughly 1 in 10 voters (13%) say they will or have already used it. Those most likely to say they would use AI are Republicans under 45 (29%), voters under 30 (23%), Hispanic voters (21%), Black voters (20%) and working voters (19%).

This Fox News poll, conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), features interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from the national voter file. Participants spoke to live interviewers from landlines (104) and mobile phones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a message (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error is higher for results between subgroups. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can also affect the results. To ensure that demographic characteristics are representative of the registered voter population, weights are often applied to age, race, education, and district variables. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.