‘Taxiety’: New research ranks Virginia third in U.S. for tax anxiety, concerns

A study by tax relief professionals Ideal Tax analyzed Google data from each state based on searches for more than 150 terms related to filing a tax return.

Terms included “tax calculator,” “Tax deadline 2023” and “child tax credit.” Results were compared against each state’s population to reveal where Americans are searching most for tax help.

Taxiety, or tax anxiety is highest in Colorado, according to the study, followed by Georgia, Virginia, Washington and California.

Colorado topped the ranking with 4,456 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents. The ranking is based on the fact that residents in the state register an average of 260,269 searches for tax-related topics each month, and, compared against the state’s population of approximately 5.8 million, results are in the highest rate of searches in the United States.

Georgia places second with a slightly lower rate of 4,425 tax-related searches for every 100,000 in the state, which is calculated from estimated searches 482,945 each month from its population of 10,912,876.

Third is Virginia, where 8.6 million residents Google tax-related terms on average 380,624 times each month, which equates to 4,383 searches for every 100,000 people in the state.

The top five is completed by Washington with 4,243 searches per 100,000, and California with 4,234 monthly searches.

At the other end of the scale, Iowa ranks as the state least anxious about tax returns, where residents generate an estimated 91,779 tax searches each month, which works out to 2,867 per 100,000 when compared against the state’s population.

Mississippi is the second least interested in Googling tax-related terms, with an average monthly rate of 2,904 for every 100,000 of its population. South Dakota also has low search levels on 2,955 searches for every 100,000 people.

“Our data found that more than 25 million searches are made on average each month for tax related terms, which highlights just how much taxes occupy Americans’ thoughts throughout the year. It’s important to keep track of your finances so that filing a return is as simple as possible, however if you do get into tax problems, then there are options, such as the IRS Fresh Start Program or the IRS Forgiveness Program which can help,” an Ideal Tax spokesperson said.

Ideal Tax is a tax resolution and mediation company that specializes in reducing tax debt, removing of wage garnishments, bank levies and liens on property, securing tax debt relief options, and assisting with tax audits while providing protection against property seizure.