Poll: 86% of Voters Believe Paying Taxes Is a ‘Civic Duty’

Daniel White

Oct 3, 2016

Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in the latest CNN/ORC poll

The vast majority of of Americans casting a ballot this November believe that paying taxes is a “civic duty,” according to a survey released Monday.

In the CNN/ORC poll, 86% of registered voters surveyed believe that paying taxes is an American civic duty, while only 12% said that taxes are an “unnecessary burden” which are best avoided.

Supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump were in agreement, with 79% saying that paying taxes was a civic duty. A leaked copy of the billionaire’s partial tax return showed that Trump may have been able to pay no federal income tax for more than a decade.

Trump’s taxes have long been an issue on the 2016 campaign trail and he has continued to refuse to release his tax returns, a custom of presidential elections.

Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Trump 47% to 42% nationally among likely voters surveyed.

The survey was conducted by ORC International from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 with a sample of 1,335 registered voters (with margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent) and 1,213 likely voters (with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent).