Trump touts 'record refunds' but polls show US indifferent to tax cuts

Bart Jansen, USA TODAYSat, April 18, 2026 at 11:16 AM UTC

13

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump staged a food delivery to the White House and is barnstorming the country promoting tax deductions he persuaded Congress to approve last year, but polls reflect indifference to the tax cuts among an electorate that finds taxes still too high.

The fight over perceptions about the tax cuts is expected to play out in the 2026 midterm elections, when the party in charge of the White House traditionally loses seats in Congress. If Republicans lose just a few seats in either the House or Senate, Democrats could regain control of the chambers.

“Every single American at every income level – there’s more money in their pockets this week because of the Republican tax policies,” Trump told a roundtable in Las Vegas on April 16. “We’ve got to win the midterms. If we don’t these policies are going to be taken away from you. The taxes are going to go through the roof.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 53 million tax filers − 45% of the total through April 12 − had claimed at least one of Trump's four new tax breaks as part of what he called a year of “record refunds for the American people.”

But Bessent acknowledged polls finding 70% of Americans still think taxes are too high. The discontent comes despite the new deductions for tips up to $25,000 a year, overtime up to $12,500, the interest on car loans for American-made cars and on an enhanced portion of Social Security benefits.

Recognition of the tax cuts is undercut by high inflation, including fuel prices.

“The cost of living is going to trump anything – no pun intended – over any small change in tax returns,” said David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on his “No Tax on Tips” policy at the AC Hotel on April 16, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Bessent outlines 'record refunds for the American public'

The average tax break from the four new tax cuts was $800 and total refunds averaged more than $3,400, Bessent told reporters at the White House on April 15.

About 30 million elderly filers claimed the enhanced deduction on Social Security benefits worth an average $7,500, Bessent said. About 25 million filers deducted overtime for an average of $3,100 each, he said. Nearly 6 million people deducted tips for an average of $7,100, he said. And more than 1 million filers claimed a deduction for car-loan interest, which averaged $1,800, he said.

“It has been a fantastic tax season,” Bessent said, and “the president has delivered record refunds to the American people.”

He encouraged taxpayers to increase their withholding so that they would see more money in their pockets each week.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2026.Polling finds Americans still feel they are overtaxed

Despite the value of tax breaks, public reaction has been lukewarm.

“As much as people do not like to pay their taxes – and we saw a survey today that 70% of Americans still believe they are overtaxed – this is a great day for the American people,” Bessent said April 15.

A Fox News poll released April 7 found a record 70% of registered voters questioned in late March thought the taxes they pay are too high – up 11 points from a year earlier. The question marked the largest year-over-year increase since the question was first asked in 2004.

A Gallup poll released April 10 and conducted in early March found 59% of Americans feel they pay too much in taxes. The results were higher than roughly 50% average recorded in the early 2000s but still below levels in the 1970s to 1990s, when the “too high” perception routinely topped 60%.

A Pew Research Center poll in January also found 60% of Americans – including 66% of Republicans – say they pay “more than their fair share” in taxes given what they get from the federal government. The overall figure is up from from 56% in 2023 and roughly half in 2019 and 2021.

Advertisement

A Real Clear Politics summary of multiple polls found a nearly 5 point disapproval rate for the tax cut package, with nearly 41% supportive and nearly 46% opposed during polls in January and February.

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on his “No Tax on Tips” policy at the AC Hotel on April 16, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Trump promotes 'big, beautiful bill' but House GOP cites 'working families tax cuts'

To promote the tax cuts, Trump staged a Door Dash delivery to the Oval Office on April 14. The delivery person, Sharon Simmons, an Arkansas grandmother, said she saved $11,000 by not having to declare tips, which she called “very surprising.”

“Isn't that incredible?” Trump said. “We call it the great big beautiful bill.”

Trump has taken his message on the road, where he told a Las Vegas audience the White House exchange was "a little tacky."

“We do these things in politics," Trump said. "They’re a little embarrassing."

At the roundtable, Las Vegas Police Officer Cruz Littlefield said he benefitted from the no tax on overtime. Nicole Williams, a longtime bartender on strip, said she appreciated the no-tax-on-tips policy because the IRS monitors tipping rigorously. Erica Casale, another bartender and makeup artist, called no tax on tips “amazing.”

House Republicans approved a resolution April 16 to reiterate support for the tax cuts finalized without any Democratic support July 3, 2025. The resolution referred to the tax-cut legislation as “working families tax cuts” rather than Trump’s moniker.

“This is real money back in the pockets of hardworking families, small business owners and farmers,” Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, said during the debate April 15. “We have heard the numbers today, and they are historic – the largest refund season in our nation’s history, with Iowans seeing an average tax cut of over $3,000.”

Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee that oversees taxes, listed everyday Americans who benefited from the tax cuts including Simmons, the Door Dash driver, who was originally from his state.

“Due to the working families tax cuts, Americans have more money to buy school supplies and put food on their tables,” Smith said.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, gestures while he speaks as the House Rules committee meets after the U.S. Senate voted to end a partial government shutdown that has snarled airports across the country, though it did not resolve a dispute over immigration enforcement that prompted the six-week standoff in the first place, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 2026.Democrats argue inflation, gas prices 'devoured' any benefit from tax cuts

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, said if the tax-cut bill was popular, Republicans wouldn’t need to pass a resolution congratulating themselves for it with a different name.

“That is insane,” McGovern said. “It is nuts.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, argued April 16 the tax package benefitted the wealthy, with a $65 billion tax cut for the largest corporations in one year.

But he said the results for working-class Americans have been "devoured" by high prices for gas, groceries and electricity. Filling up a car with gas will cost an estimated $740 more this year because of the war on Iran, he said.

“If you’re a hotel staffer, a waiter, a janitor, a Door Dash delivery driver, Trump’s tax policies don’t come close to undoing the economic damage he’s done to you and your family,” Schumer said.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump promotes tax cuts despite polls showing an indifferent public

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Money”