Even considering that, the 3% figure still seems wildly implausible. This would require something like 90% of the population thinking they pay 0% taxes, and the remaining 10% thinking they pay 30% taxes (which is still an underestimate).
The PDF that Louie linked to doesn’t explain what the numbers mean. Surely there would be lots of articles about this epidemic of grossly underestimating taxes. Can anyone provide more evidence?
Consider the impact of interpreting “I got some back” answers as being negative entries in the summation (though I hope the survey would put up a big asterisk about this when reporting the results!).
People took the question as being about federal income taxes, and that value is (incorrecty) compared to all taxes at all levels: social security taxes, state sales taxes, etc.
Even considering that, the 3% figure still seems wildly implausible. This would require something like 90% of the population thinking they pay 0% taxes, and the remaining 10% thinking they pay 30% taxes (which is still an underestimate).
The PDF that Louie linked to doesn’t explain what the numbers mean. Surely there would be lots of articles about this epidemic of grossly underestimating taxes. Can anyone provide more evidence?
True. A few other possible factors:
Consider the impact of interpreting “I got some back” answers as being negative entries in the summation (though I hope the survey would put up a big asterisk about this when reporting the results!).
People took the question as being about federal income taxes, and that value is (incorrecty) compared to all taxes at all levels: social security taxes, state sales taxes, etc.