A growing majority of Americans say they pay more in federal taxes than is fair, while frustration over wealthy individuals and corporations avoiding their obligations continues to rise, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Monday. The survey, conducted in January 2026, included 8,512 U.S. adults.
The survey of 8,512 U.S. adults found 60% say their personal tax burden exceeds what is reasonable given what they receive from the federal government up from 56% in 2023 and roughly half in 2019.
Frustration At The Top
Americans’ sharpest frustration is not with what they personally pay, but what others avoid. About 61% say wealthy individuals dodging taxes bothers them a lot, and roughly 60% say the same about corporations. In contrast, just 12% are concerned that lower-income Americans pay too little.
Partisans see the system as broken but differ on blame. Some 81% of Democrats are bothered by wealthy individuals avoiding taxes, compared with 41% of Republicans. Republicans feel more personally burdened 47% say the amount they pay is unfair versus 36% of Democrats.
Upper-income households report the greatest strain: 68% of upper-income Americans say their burden is unfair, rising to 79% among upper-income Republicans.
How The Wealthy Respond
Following last summer’s tax law changes, wealthy Americans increasingly turned to donor-advised funds (DAFs), which allow immediate deductions while spreading charitable giving over time. National Philanthropic Trust saw new accounts surge 123% in November–December 2025, Vanguard Charitable reported a 99% rise, and DAFgiving360 contributions climbed roughly 50% year-over-year in Q4.
Wealth, Policy, And The Political Fight
The debate over tax fairness intensified in April. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, proposing a 2% annual tax and 1% surcharge on fortunes above $50 million, targeting roughly 260,000 households. Analysts estimate the bill could generate $6.2 trillion over a decade. Jayapal highlighted that Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk pay lower effective tax rates than the average nurse.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon pushed back, questioning claims that billionaires avoid their fair share. Sanders responded that a 5% wealth tax would require Dimon to pay roughly $135 million more while leaving him with over $2.5 billion, projecting $4.4 trillion in revenue from his Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act over ten years.
Pressure is not limited to Washington. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires, including Abigail Disney, signed an open letter urging global leaders to tax the super-rich, warning that extreme wealth concentration threatens democracy worldwide.
Personal Impact
With average federal tax refunds rising 10.9% to $3,571 as of late March and U.S. inflation projected at 4.2% in 2026, household budgets are tightening.
The filing deadline for the 2025 tax year remains April 15.
Disclaimer: This content was produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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