These are two sets of questions about fair tax policy that voters can ask at public meetings, in writing, or in
letters to the editor. The first set is neutral in tone; the second set incorporates a point of view into the question. When
asking questions, it’s best to quote a candidate’s own words if possible.

1. Who benefits and who loses under your tax proposal?
Do low-income people’s taxes go up or down?
Do middle-income people’s taxes go up or down?
Do wealthy people’s taxes go up or down?
If your proposal gives everybody a tax break, is the percent reduction for wealthy people more or less than
that for low and middle income people?
Do corporate taxes go up or down?
2. Does your proposal create or eliminate special tax preferences?
If it creates them, for whom? If it eliminates them, for whom?
3. Does your tax proposal increase the amount of funds available to sustain the public services needed by the public (e.g., education, transportation, security)?
4. Does your tax proposal increase accountability to taxpayers?
Does it create accountability mechanisms for regularly reviewing and assessing special tax preferences?
Does it require disclosure of the beneficiaries of federal tax breaks?
Does it require company-specific disclosure of corporate profits and federal corporate income taxes paid?

The following questions incorporate a point of view so that the audience learns from your questions, not just from the
candidate’s answer.

1. Why does Candidate X support giving millionaires like Paris Hilton more tax breaks – such as ending the estate
tax or cutting the capital gains tax - when our local school/other federal service is getting cut because there’s not
enough funding?
2. If Candidate X wants to cut or end [xyz] tax, which is paid by wealthy people, how does Candidate X propose
to make up the lost revenue? Increase the national debt? Raise taxes on the middle class? Spending cuts? If
spending cuts, what public services will Candidate X cut?
3. The disparity of wealth between the rich and everybody else is at its highest level since the Gilded Age a century
ago. Does reducing/ending a federal tax paid by wealthy people lead to even greater inequality of wealth and
power?
4. With national polls showing strong public support for making sure that we put the real needs of working families ahead of tax breaks for the wealthy, does Candidate X want to reduce/end a federal tax paid by wealthy people?