Gayle Falkenthal
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SAN DIEGO – March 7, 2013 – Have you filed your 2012 tax return yet? If you have, you are among the one in four Americans who have already sent their returns off to the IRS.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national survey finds that 38% of Americans have filed their income taxes already. Fifty-two percent (52%) have yet to file but plan to do so by the April 15 deadline. Four percent (4%) plan to get an extension.
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Women and adults under 40 are more likely to have filed their taxes already than men and older Americans. Younger adults expect a refund much more than older adults do.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of government employees have filed their income taxes already, compared to 48% of those who work for a private company. Only 15% of entrepreneurs have filed already, and just 29% of these taxpayers expect a refund.
Investors are less likely to expect a refund than non-investors, which helps explain why 60% of investors have yet to file their taxes, compared to 44% of non-investors.
Forty-three percent (43%) had filed by March 15 in 2012, which was down from 51% who had already filed by the same time in 2011. Forty-three percent (43%) had filed by before the Wall Street meltdown in March 2008.
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Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans expect to get a tax refund this year, up from 42% a year ago. Only 18% expect to owe the government money, down from 24% in 2012. Twenty-three percent (23%) predict that they will break even, while 12% are not sure.
Not too many taxpayers say they’re worried about being audited by the IRS. Only 16% are at least somewhat concerned that the IRS will audit their taxes, including five percent (5%) who are “very concerned.” Entrepreneurs are more than twice as likely as government workers or private company employees to be concerned about an IRS audit.
Eighty-one percent (81%) don’t share that concern, with 26% who say they’re “not at all concerned.” Famous last words?
Forty percent (40%) of Americans intend to prepare their own incomes taxes this year, down slightly from 43% last year but still ahead of the 29% who did their own taxes in 2011. Forty-eight percent (48%) will hire a professional to do their taxes this year, up from last year’s 43% but down 10 points from 58% two years ago. Nine percent (9%) will have someone in their family do their taxes.
Half of all Americans still think they pay too much in taxes, and question the fairness of the current tax system. Only half?
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on March 3-4, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. She is also a serious boxing fan covering the Sweet Science for Communities. Read more Media Migraine and Ringside Seat in the Communities at The Washington Times. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego. Gayle can be reached via Google +
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