Yes you can refuse to answer a census question.
Although the census says you're required by law to answer the census you can refuse to answer any question on the census.
It's also your legal right to refuse to answer any of the census questions and you can politely tell the census worker to get off your property and not come back.
I have done that before and usually when the census comes around I take off camping for awhile and that way I'm not home for them to bother me.
I've never answered any census questions and never have been fined or jailed for it.
You can however be fined and jailed for giving false answers.
But you can just refuse to answer the census at all.
The census does indeed ask about your income and they ask too many other personal questions as well.
The census not only asks about income but also how many people and children are living in your home, if you have health insurance, your race etc.
The census used to ask about if you could take a bath yourself as well as if you had running water, electricity etc and how many toilets, if you had a furnace etc.
I believe that they stopped asking all those questions but they do still ask about children, income, health insurance etc as far as I know.
I refuse to take the census because I don't want them knowing my income as that is my personal business.
Nobody else but me needs to know how much money I make each month or year.
According to the law and the census the penalty for not doing the census is a $100.00 fine and if you provide false answers the penalty can go up to $500.00 and even a year in jail.
But if you just plain refuse to do the census the worst that may happen is you get $100.00 fine.
I've been refusing the census for years and never got that fine.
It's basically just an idle threat to get you to comply.
If I did get the fine I would just pay it and move on and still not take the census.
It's my right to not take the census just like it's your right to not take the census.
Census workers are allowed to go door to door to peoples addresses who have not filled out the census survey.
However while the census worker is allowed to walk up to your door and knock and try to get you to answer the census they cannot make you answer the census.
You can refuse the census and the census worker must leave your property when asked to do so.
There's not much a cop would do if you called them on the census worker but if you threaten the census worker then they might call the cops on you.
Just politely ask the census worker to leave your property and to not come back.
Although it says you must take the census poll by law there's really not much they can do to force you to take the census other than give you a fine.
I refuse to take the census and nothing has happened in the 15 years of refusing the census and my father has refused to take the census before as well.
My father even once threatened a census worker with a gun and told him to get off the property and he did and never came back.
I don't recommend doing that though but that is just what he did.