Nearly half of Americans have a headache just thinking about their taxes (48%), according to new research.<br /><br />A survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, 500 of them CPAs and bookkeepers, looked at some of the pain points around tax season.<br /><br />Most respondents start filing their taxes in February (39%) or March (28%), but the average tax professional estimates that 41% of people file their personal taxes too late, with one in six recommending that people start filing as early as January.<br /><br />Conducted by OnePoll for SurePayroll, the survey found that across the board, the most stressful parts of the tax process are gathering the necessary information (40%), waiting for employer documents (33%) and concerns about needing to pay money back (27%).<br /><br />“Starting tax prep well before April pays big returns for small business owners when it comes to reducing stress,” said Marcus O’Malley, SurePayroll CPA/reseller product lead. “Half of CPAs recommend that small business owners receive professional assistance with their taxes. And 79% have referred their clients to an online payroll service, a move that centralizes important tax prep documents and saves small business owners time and stress.”<br /><br />While 47% of all respondents file their taxes on their own, 53% consult a professional to help, including CPAs and bookkeepers (53%).<br /><br />Tax professionals consult others in their field when they need help maximizing their return (63%) or are looking for financial advice (62%). However, 73% admit that they’d be concerned with finding a professional who maximizes their return.<br /><br />They understand that time is money since the average CPA/bookkeeper would spend $1,900 for another professional to help meet their tax needs, and 43% would spend upwards of $2,000.<br /><br />For the average respondent who may have less extensive tax needs, people would spend just under $500 for professional help.<br /><br />CPAs and bookkeepers advise that professional tax help is necessary when someone makes a certain income (53%) and 44% said anyone who has any kind of paid job should seek a tax preparer’s opinion.<br /><br />Other pieces of advice they’d give to those filing taxes are to consider an alternative such as an online service or a large tax-preparing company (37%), make sure beneficiary designations are up to date (33%) and to take measures to shield yourself from tax scams/fraud (33%).<br /><br />LEAST-KNOWN TAX WRITE-OFFS CPAS WISH CLIENTS KNEW<br /><br />Child and dependent care tax credit — 34%<br /><br />Reinvested dividends — 32%<br /><br />Out-of-pocket charitable contributions — 31%<br /><br />Lifetime Learning credit — 31%<br /><br />Earned income tax credit (EITC) — 28% [TIED]<br /><br />Deduction of Medicare premiums for the self-employed — 28% [TIED]<br /><br />Student loan interest paid by you or someone else — 28%<br /><br />State sales tax — 23%<br /><br />American Opportunity credit — 19%<br /><br />State tax you paid last spring — 18%
