Poll Shows Bernie Sanders’ Tax Plan Is The Favorite Of 2016 Taxpayers

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:51 pm

A new WalletHub/Survey Monkey poll of 2016 taxpayers found that Bernie Sanders has the most popular tax plan of all the presidential candidates in both parties.

Of those who picked a favorite candidate tax plan (34.1% had no idea), Bernie Sanders was easily the most favored. The Sanders tax plan was supported by 26.3% of respondents. Hillary Clinton’s tax plan was second at 13%. Donald Trump was third at 11.8%. Ted Cruz was fourth at 7.5%, and John Kasich was fifth at 4.7%.

Here are the results in pie chart form via WalletHub:

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When the results are combined, Democrats have a roughly ten-point edge on the Republican candidates on taxes. The issue for Republicans is two-fold. Republican presidential candidates like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are running on abolishing the IRS, but 86% of respondents to the survey believe that the IRS is necessary. By a margin of 58.6% to 41.4% taxpayers believe that their tax rates are too high.

The message from this survey is that taxpayers prefer tax plans that would raise taxes on the wealthy while cutting them for middle and lower-income individuals and families. Tax cuts for the wealthy are not popular. Every Republican presidential candidate is proposing a massive tax cut for the wealthiest individuals. The popularity of the Sanders tax plan, which is the harshest of any plan on the wealthy and corporations, suggests that the pain of economic collapse and subsequent Wall Street bailout still resonates with taxpayers.

Taxpayers feel like they got the shaft in the Great Recession, and they are looking for a president that will make the wealthiest Americans and big business pay their fair share.

The Sanders tax plan has been criticized by both his Democratic opponent and Republicans, but it is also by far the most popular plan with taxpayers.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association