Americans say their U.S. income tax payment is “about right”

“One of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956.”

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Gallup says this year 48 percent of Americans consider the amount of federal income tax they pay as “about right,” 3 percent say it is “too low,” and 46 percent say it is “too high.”

Gallup concludes: “Americans’ views of their federal income taxes are about as positive as at any point in the last 60 years”

More at Gallup.com.

A Business to Count On: Tax Prep Firms’ Valuations Rise 9%

Happy Tax season! Here’s the good news.

It’s not easy finding strong businesses in this economy. But today, the day before April 15th is a good time to discover a new report from BizEquity.com that shows at least one business with rising valuations: tax preparation.

Of a sample of 35,000 tax prep companies (all privately-held), there was a 9% growth in valuations – from $71,007 to $77,181. The top cities included: Columbus (33%), San Antonio (28%) and Chicago (20%).

Publicly-traded tax prep firms have not held up as well. H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) has gone from $21.18 to $15.16 over the past year. Still, Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) has shares have fallen only 4%.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get the full report from BizEquity (5 pages, PDF)