This Tax Day, BPC’s New Poll Breaks Down Americans’ Perceptions on Taxes

• The majority of U.S. adults responded that tax dollars are spent inefficiently (58%) with 30% saying somewhat inefficiently and 28% saying not at all efficient.
• When broken down by generation, Baby Boomers (67%) were the most likely to say tax dollars are being used inefficiently. Younger generations were slightly less likely to suggest the same: GenXers (59%), Millennials (55%), and GenZ (45%).
• Over two-thirds of Republicans (68%) felt that tax dollars are used inefficiently, compared to Independents (61%) and Democrats (46%).

To test the extent to which taxpayer perceptions changed after receiving more information, participants in this survey were given an illustrative example generated using BPC’s Federal Taxpayer Receipt for an individual who paid $18,000 in federal income and payroll taxes in 2023, broken down by eleven primary spending categories.

• After seeing how federal tax dollars are actually distributed, Americans shifted their perceptions on federal spending: fewer respondents (46%) said their tax dollars are being spent inefficiently—a sizeable shift (12 percentage points) from the original 58%.
• Baby Boomers were the most likely to be influenced by the receipt, with only 51% still feeling that their tax dollars are spent inefficiently compared to the 67% before the receipt—a 16-percentage point swing.
• Republicans had the greatest shift in perceptions after seeing the receipt, with 54% still responding that tax dollars are used inefficiently compared to the initial 68%—a 14-percentage point swing. Independents (50%) and Democrats (36%) also shifted from their original responses.

Table 1: Shift in Public Perceptions on the Efficiency of Use of Tax Dollars

	Before Tool	After Tool	Percentage Point Change
All Respondents	58%	46%	-12
Men	56%	45%	-9
Women	60%	46%	-14
Gen Z (Born                   1997 – 2012)	45%	38%	-8
Millennials (Born 1981-1996)	55%	44%	-11
GenXers (Born 1965-1980)	59%	47%	-12
Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964)	67%	51%	-16
Democrat	46%	36%	-10
Republican	68%	54%	-14
Independent	63%	50%	-13

Do You Know Where Your Tax Dollars Go?

Taxes fund government services and programs that benefit Americans, from education and infrastructure to defense and health care. To better understand perceptions on how these funds are allocated, participants were asked about the federal government’s spending on eleven key programs.

• Most adults felt that the government spends too little on veteran’s benefits and services (61%), Social Security (58%), health care (58%), and education (56%).
  • This is particularly notable given that spending on health care and Social Security make up the largest share of the federal budget at nearly $1.7 trillion and $1.3 trillion (28% and 23% of the federal budget), respectively, in Fiscal Year 2023.
• Alternatively, Americans felt that the federal government spends too much on international affairs (43%), military and national defense (26%), and interest on the national debt (24%).
  • Interestingly, international affairs is one of the smaller federal budget categories, costing $70 billion (1% of the federal budget) in FY2023.

The Federal Taxpayer Receipt also changed participants’ perceptions of how the federal government actually spends tax dollars.

• While many Americans still think the federal government spends too little on veteran’s benefits and services, education, and Social Security, the magnitude of this response changed from the initial responses.
• Reactions to health care spending shifted considerably after seeing the receipt, from 58% responding that too little was spent to 40%—an 18-percentage point swing.
• Reactions to international aid spending also shifted. More participants responded feeling that too little (20%) or the right amount (25%) are being spent after receiving more information, compared to too much (32%, an 11-percentage point difference).
• Interestingly, participants changed their perspective on how much the government pays to service the national debt, with more saying that too much (31%) is spent on it, compared to 24% before—a seven-point shift. Given that interest on the debt is one of the fastest growing expenditures in the federal budget, Americans will continue to spend more of their tax dollars on it unless lawmakers act to curb the deficit and debt.

Table 2: Shift in Public Perceptions on Use of Federal Tax Dollars

	Responses that the Federal Government Spends “Too Little”
	Before Tool	After Tool	Percentage Point Change
Veteran’s Benefits and Services	61%	58%	-3
Social Security	58%	45%	-13
Health Care	58%	40%	-18
Education	56%	55%	-1
Environment and Natural Resources	43%	44%	+1
Infrastructure	42%	43%	+1
Economic and Income Assistance	41%	34%	-7
General Government	39%	38%	-1
Interest on the National Debt	34%	26%	-8
Military and National Defense	30%	28%	-2
International Affairs	13%	20%	+7

Can You Do Better?

With complete information at their fingertips, participants were then asked to build their ideal federal budget.

• Participants prioritized health care (54%), Social Security (47%), and education (33%). These three consistently had the highest response rate for programs where too little tax dollars are spent, indicating strong public support for these programs.
• Over a quarter (27%) prioritized economic and income support programs (including SNAP benefits and housing assistance) among their top three priorities.
• Twenty-one percent of respondents prioritized military and national defense. Interestingly, though, very few respondents prioritized spending on international affairs (3%).
• Low on the list was prioritizing interest spending on the national debt, even though absent action to address America’s growing debt burden, spending on interest will surpass what is spent on national defense and Medicare expenditures in FY2024.
• When broken down by political leanings, Democrats and Republicans had common top priorities for the federal budget:
  • Regardless of political affiliation, participants felt similarly that Social Security spending should be prioritized: Democrats (46%), Republicans (50%), and Independents (47%). It was the top spending category among Republicans.
  • Among Democrats, additional spending priorities included health care (64%), education (36%), economic and income assistance (33%), and the environment and natural resources (22%).
  • Among Republicans, additional spending priorities included health care (43%), military and national defense (35%), veteran’s benefits and services (33%), and general government (includes border security, law enforcement, and Congress,28%).

Fostering a More Engaged Public

BPC’s survey results demonstrate that Americans feel strongly about how (in)efficiently their tax dollars are spent; however, arming them with information on how they are actually spent instead of their initial perceptions influenced responses. There remains a disconnect between the focus and rhetoric of policymakers on Capitol Hill and how their constituents understand the cost, including their share, of federal spending priorities.

BPC works to bridge this divide by bringing together people from across the political spectrum on several policy issues to help the public grapple with the nation’s greatest challenges and lawmakers to craft viable solutions that improve their lives.

To learn more and stay up to date on our nation’s greatest fiscal challenges, check out these interactive tools:

Federal Taxpayer Receipt

Federal Budget Simulator

Deficit Tracker

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Survey Methodology

Morning Consult surveyed 2,201 adults between April 1 and April 4, 2024. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.

Click here for the survey crosstabs.