West Covina

Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-West Covina) said a survey of 2,100 of his constituents shows that most are against tax deductions for business lunches and entertaining and say that the guiding principle in rewriting tax laws should be fairness rather than simplicity. Torres sent questionnaires to 12,000 voters and received replies from nearly 20%, many of whom declared opposition to tax breaks benefiting the rich.

Torres said two-thirds of the respondents said the top individual tax rate should be kept at 50% rather than be cut; 84% said businesses should be unable to deduct the cost of sports and theater tickets, and 53% wanted to eliminate all business deductions for meals while 19% would limit the maximum deduction for meals to $15 per person. The survey also showed strong opposition to eliminating federal deductions for state and local taxes, to taxing employer-paid health insurance and to reducing differences in tax rates between low and high incomes.