The Federal Tab About 119 million income tax returns poured into the IRS last year. That was up from 112 million in 1990. To support this gargantuan system, the vast majority of us pony up our payments on time and as directed. Just 42 percent of Americans believe they get their money's worth from federal income taxes, according to a survey conducted by Maritz Marketing Research, Inc. of Fenton, Missouri, for American Demographics. Forty-eight percent say they do not, and 8 percent don't know.
Faith increases with age.
One-third of all adults think Social Security taxes are not worth it. As for the elderly, well, they've got theirs and they're happy. Eighty percent of respondents aged 65 older say FICA taxes are worth it. Fewer than half of people in their 20s through 40s agree. That's why former Senator and presidential candidate Robert Dole's proposed 15 percent federal income tax cut failed to ignite the electorate.