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Tax Season Scares Millennials

A NerdWallet/Harris survey found that 80% of taxpayers aged 18-34 "are fearful about some aspect of preparing their taxes." That's the largest percentage of any age group. Millennials are also most worried about "leaving tax-refund money on the table" and "more likely than other age groups to ask key questions before hiring help."

Here's some so-called reasoning:

“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,” says Liz Weston, NerdWallet columnist and personal finance expert.

You see, this is the type of rationale that makes all this generational talk pretty stupid. It's true, an 18-year-old probably doesn't have much experience with the "deeply confusing tax code." On the other hand, I hope a 34-year-old has some experience with the tax code, if only it's punching numbers off a W-2 into TurboTax. And did I miss the announcement that 18-34 year-olds stop procreating and sinking themselves into debt?

Anyway, tax season scares lots of people. That's why the bogus IRS calls are such a big success. Still, I'll bet most Millennials prefer tax returns to performance reviews.

[NerdWallet]