Poll: Corporations don’t pay fair share

Roughly two-thirds of people say that U.S. corporations aren’t paying enough in taxes, according to a new poll.

{mosads}The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that just one in five people say that the largest corporations pay their fair share.

Those findings come as both President Obama and congressional Republicans have said that the corporate tax rate – 35 percent, among the highest in the industrialized world – should be reduced. Both top Democrats and Republicans have also floated the idea of revamping the tax code, and using some of the revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements.

But because of tax incentives and other maneuvers, many companies pay far less than that high statutory rate. The Government Accountability Office found that corporations paid a roughly 13 percent effective tax rate – though some analysts have estimated that figure is in the 20’s.

In another poll this month, The New York Times and CBS News found that 55 percent felt corporations pay less than their fair share. Around a quarter of adults found that corporations pay about the right amount, and just over one in 10 said they pay too much.

Polls in recent years have frequently also found that voters favor higher taxes on the wealthy to help pay for other policies. Obama will discuss that sort of plan in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, though Republicans have already panned his proposals.