June 20, 2008
As Senator Obama abandons public financing, a new Tax Foundation analysis shows that most American taxpayers were never enthusiastic enough to contribute to the program on their tax returns.
In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact, No. 130, analyst Mark Robyn explains how the Presidential Election Campaign Fund works and explores the low taxpayer participation rate.
On the 1040 form, all tax filers can check a box marked Presidential Election Campaign if they want $3 of their tax payments to go into this fund ($6 for couples). Taxpayers are assured that they are not paying extra if they check the box.
"Only about 12 percent of taxpayers nationwide have been checking the box in recent years," says Robyn.
Robyn calls the assurance that the $3 is free to the taxpayer "dubious" and suggests four reasons for the lackluster participation:
• Taxpayers may be angry about the tax code in general.
• Taxpayers may oppose public funding of political campaigns in principle.
• Taxpayers may have little or no idea what the Presidential Election Campaign Fund really is.
• Taxpayers may disbelieve the assurance that checking the box will not cost them extra.
Robyn explains that the Presidential Election Campaign Fund is designed to level the playing field for candidates by providing them with public funding for their presidential primary campaigns and their general election campaigns, provided the candidates meet various qualifications.
The best-known requirement for receiving the public funds is the reason Obama rejected them: for 2008, the overall spending limit is just over $42 million on primaries and $84 million for the general election.
"When the Presidential Election Campaign Fund was first established in the 1970s, the participation rate hovered around 27 percent of filers," commented Robyn, "but since then, fewer people have checked the box."
However, there are pockets of stronger support among high-income people.
"Support is about twice as strong at the top of the income scale," said Robyn, "but even among people who declare more than a million dollars in income, only about one quarter of them check the box."
The new study, "The Presidential Election Campaign Fund: A Voluntary Tax That Stirs Little Enthusiasm," is available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/23305.html.