Poll shows support for income surtax on high earners
It will be almost two years before voters might make their preference official, but a recent poll found that almost 80 percent of Massachusetts voters are okay with making people who earn more than $1 million pay more in taxes.
A WBUR/MassInc Polling Group poll of 508 registered voters, conducted by phone between Jan. 15 and Jan. 17, pegged support for the so-called millionaire's tax at 77 percent. Forty-eight percent of voters polled said they would strongly support the measure, while another 29 percent said they would likely support it.
Opposition was measured at 17 percent, with another 6 percent of voters saying they were not sure yet.
And 54 percent of the 152 WBUR/MassInc poll respondents who earn $100,000 per year or more said they strongly support the surtax, with another 21 percent saying they somewhat support it. Opposition from that income level totaled 19 percent.
Among the 173 voters polled who earn between $50,000 and $99,000, strong support was pegged at 49 percent with another 31 percent in the somewhat support category. Forty-five percent of the 124 voters earning less than $50,000 said they strongly support the surtax and another 31 percent support it somewhat.
Respondents were not asked about the likely 2018 ballot question's particulars but were asked, "Would you support or oppose increasing the state's income tax on any income over one million dollars and using that money to pay for education and transportation?"
A proposed constitutional amendment -- which needs one more affirmative vote from the full Legislature to advance to the 2018 ballot -- would impose a 4 percent surtax on household incomes over $1 million, a change to the state's tax structure that the Department of Revenue has said would generate an estimated $1.9 billion in additional revenue.
While the amendment states all the dollars raised would be limited to transportation and education investments, opponents counter that the constitution prohibits ballot referendums from making specific appropriations.
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