Building a More Inclusive Agenda: A Survey of Congressional Priorities Across Race — Priorities for Tax Policy

Updated December 18, 2023

Heading into debates related to the expiration of the 2017 tax cuts, policymakers, scholars, and advocates have put forth proposals to expand or retract investments in the U.S. tax system. The bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August 2022, invested about $80 billion in IRS modernization. Since then, the U.S. House Republicans passed a bill cutting most of this funding. The expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, enacted for just one year in the American Rescue Plan, extended significant cash benefits to families with and without children, and increased conversations about how the tax system benefits individuals across race, class, and gender. And scholars, including Georgetown Law Professor Dorothy Brown and several members of the Joint Center’s Tax Policy Advisory Committee, have put forth proposals to reform the tax system.

To delve deeper into public sentiment regarding tax policies, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and NORC at the University of Chicago conducted a nationwide survey. This comprehensive survey garnered responses from over 1,200 individuals spanning various racial and ethnic backgrounds, including Black, Hispanic, white, and Multiracial, Multiracial,  Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI), and other respondents. The data was gathered online between Jan. 26 to 30, 2023, leveraging NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel.

The survey questioned respondents on how they believe Congress should prioritize various tax policy-related issues. These issues included passing legislation that helps to decrease income equality, bringing back the expanded Child Tax Credit that provided monthly payments to most families with children, providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, passing legislation to take away funding from the IRS, and reducing the federal deficit. For each topic, respondents were asked to categorize the issue’s importance, ranging from a top priority to something that should not be done.

The results revealed intriguing patterns across racial and ethnic lines when comparing the priorities most likely to be rated as a top priority by groups of a particular race or ethnicity. Of all of the tax policy priorities polled, Black respondents were most likely to rank passing legislation that helps decrease income inequality (47 percent) as a top priority. This priority was closely followed by reducing the federal deficit and providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, with 46 percent of Black respondents ranking each a top priority. Across issues, both white (51 percent) and Hispanic (37 percent) and multiracial/AAPI/other (45 percent) respondents were most likely to rank reducing the federal deficit a top priority for Congress. Passing legislation to take away funding from the IRS was least likely to be ranked as a top priority for Congress across every race and ethnicity.

Bring back the expanded Child Tax Credit that provided monthly payments to most families with children

Over half (51 percent) of all respondents say that bringing back the expanded Child Tax Credit that provided monthly payments to most families with children should be an important or top priority for Congress. Black respondents (67 percent) are significantly more likely than white respondents (48 percent) to believe that bringing back the expanded Child Tax Credit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Men (19 percent) are significantly more likely than women (12 percent) to believe that Congress should not bring back the expanded Child Tax Credit. There are no significant differences according to income, education, and age.

Providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit

Nearly two thirds (63 percent) percent of all respondents say that providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Expanding this tax credit has widespread support. About three in four Black (72 percent) and AAPI/multiracial/other (76 percent) respondents believe that providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Respondents who earn an income between $60,000 to $100,000 (71 percent) were more likely than any other income group to say that providing more tax benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Only six percent of people overall say that Congress should not provide more benefits to workers by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. Notably, 11 percent of respondents with a bachelor’s degree (compared with four percent or fewer of other educational groups) and 10 percent of men (compared with three percent of women) believe expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit should not be done.

Passing legislation to take away funding from the IRS

Passing legislation to take away funding from the IRS has the lowest level of support among the tax policy priorities, with just over one-third (34 percent) ranking it an important or top priority for Congress. Nearly half (46 percent) believe it is not too important a priority or should not be done. Black (40 percent) and AAPI/multiracial/other (44 percent) respondents are more likely than white (35 percent) and Hispanic respondents (27 percent) to believe that passing legislation to take away funding from the IRS should be an important or top priority for Congress. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said that Congress should not pass legislation to take away funding from the IRS. Over one-third of respondents earning over $100,000 per year (37 percent), respondents with a bachelor's degree (38 percent) and respondents age 60 or older (33 percent) say that Congress should not take away funding from the IRS are respondents who earned at least a bachelor's degree.

Passing legislation that helps to decrease income inequality

Nearly six in 10 respondents (59 percent) say that passing legislation that helps to decrease income inequality should be an important or top priority for Congress. Black (70 percent) and AAPI/multiracial/other (75 percent) respondents are significantly more likely than white (58 percent) and Hispanic respondents (50 percent) to believe that passing legislation that helps to decrease income inequality should be an important or top priority for Congress. Women (66 percent) are more likely than men (54 percent) to think it should be an important or top priority for Congress to pass legislation that helps to decrease income inequality.

Respondents with at least a bachelor's degree (66 percent) were more likely than respondents with a high school diploma (54 percent) or some college (57 percent) to say that passing legislation that helps to decrease income inequality should be an important or top priority for Congress. Thirteen percent of those surveyed said that Congress should not pass legislation that helps to decrease income inequality. 

Reducing the federal deficit

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents believe that reducing the federal deficit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Respondents 60 years old and older (86 percent) were significantly more likely than younger respondents aged 18 to 29 (56 percent) and aged 30 to 44 (60 percent) to believe that reducing the federal deficit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Respondents with at least a bachelor’s degree (75 percent) were significantly more likely than respondents with no high school diploma (49 percent) to say that reducing the federal deficit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Men (76 percent) are significantly more likely than women (67 percent) to believe that reducing the federal deficit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Respondents making at least $100,000 (78 percent) were significantly more likely than respondents making less than $30,000 (58 percent) to say that reducing the federal deficit should be an important or top priority for Congress. Very few respondents (two percent) believe that Congress should do nothing about reducing the federal deficit.

Methodology

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and NORC at the University of Chicago staff collaborated on this study. NORC fielded the survey using its AmeriSpeak® panel. Interviews for this survey were conducted between Jan. 26-30, 2023. The survey included 1,231 adults across the country. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level among all adults. The Omnibus survey is administered in mixed mode; (online) web (CAWI) and phone (CATI). About 90 percent of the interviews and conducted online and about 10 percent are conducted by phone.

Funded and operated by NORC at the University of Chicago, AmeriSpeak® is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. Randomly selected U.S. households are sampled using area probability and address-based sampling, with a known, non-zero probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame. These sampled households are then contacted by U.S. mail, telephone, and field interviewers (face to face). The panel provides sample coverage of approximately 97 percent of the U.S. household population. Those excluded from the sample include people with P.O. Box only addresses, some addresses not listed in the USPS Delivery Sequence File, and some newly constructed dwellings. While most AmeriSpeak households participate in surveys by web, non-internet households can participate in AmeriSpeak surveys by telephone. Households without conventional internet access but having web access via smartphones are allowed to participate in AmeriSpeak surveys by web. AmeriSpeak panelists participate in NORC studies or studies conducted by NORC on behalf of governmental agencies, academic researchers, and media and commercial organizations. For more information, email AmeriSpeak-BD@norc.org or visit AmeriSpeak.norc.org.