Survey: Millennials are afraid of tax season

We millennials may seem like confident people – how else can we explain the way we dress and style our hair? But beneath our tough, Kombucha soaked exteriors, it turns out we do in fact have some pretty big fears. A new survey by NerdWallet and Harris Poll reveals one thing we are pretty frightened by – filing our taxes.

According to the online survey of more than 1,600 U.S. adults, 80% of taxpayers ages 18-34 who filed taxes last year and plan to file this year say they’re fearful about some aspect of preparing their taxes. And that’s the highest of any age group, with the average among all age groups being 69%.

The survey found that nearly a quarter (22%) of nervous Millennials say their biggest worry is making a mistake on their returns. And most surprisingly, the survey found Millennials were also more likely than other adults to fill out on paper and mail in their tax returns, with 17% saying that’s how they filed.

According to NerdWallet:

“Who knew so many millennials would be so old-fashioned?” says Liz Weston, NerdWallet columnist and personal finance expert. “But in some ways, it makes sense: Millennials tend to have less experience with a deeply confusing tax code, less cash to seek professional help and less need for the more complicated returns that having children or a mortgage can bring.”

More interesting numbers from the survey:

• Thirty-four percent of millennial taxpayers say they ask tax-related questions of friends or family — instead of a tax professional (27%), online sources (20%) or the IRS (9%) — a rate nearly twice as high as the national average of 19%. Nationally, 38% of taxpayers turn to a tax professional, followed by friends and family and online sources at 19% each, and 10% contact the IRS with tax-related questions.
• Millennial taxpayers were much less likely than the average to hire a tax professional (17% versus the national average of 29%).
• Fears surrounding tax preparation are common across all age groups: Nearly 7 in 10 taxpayers (69%) have a concern about tax preparation. The top concern is making a mistake (17%), followed closely by paying too much in taxes (15%), not getting the biggest possible refund (14%) and getting audited (11%).
• Millennials are more worried about taxes than other age groups: Four of five (80%) millennial taxpayers report fears related to tax preparation — such as making a mistake (22%), not getting the biggest possible refund (17%) or paying too much in taxes (13%).
• Among those who received a refund last year, 1 in 5 millennial men (19%) say they aren’t confident that they got the maximum refund possible, compared with just 5% of men ages 45 and older who aren’t confident.

Read the full survey results here: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/taxes/millennials-fear-filing-taxes/