Zogby Poll: Audit Fears Plague One in Four Americans

Survey shows vast majority confident their income tax return is accurate, but some can't shake worries the Tax Man may come calling anyway

Zogby via BBSNews 2007-03-09 -- Even though most Americans (86%) are confident their income tax return will be filed accurately this year—free from errors and taking advantage of all eligible deductions—one in four (25%) still worry they might be audited by the IRS, a recent Zogby Interactive poll shows.

Those 35-54 (30%) are more likely than other age groups to say they agonize about a possible audit, as are married respondents and those with children living at home. Women (27%) are slightly more likely than men (24%) to be concerned they might be audited. The survey, which focuses on how Americans are dealing with tax time as April rapidly approached, is featured in the March issue of Zogby's American Consumer newsletter.

More than a third of respondents (36%) said they file themselves or with a tax preparer as soon as they get all of their tax information. Those age 25-34 are most likely to be tax return early-birds—43% in this age group said they file right away. Only 7% said they put it off until the last possible minute and scramble to get their taxes filed. The Zogby Interactive poll of 3,202 adults nationwide was conducted Feb. 28-March 3, 2007, and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points.

More than half of all respondents (55%) said they have already received or plan to receive a federal income tax refund this year. Once their refund arrives, half (53%) said they plan to pay off some bills, and 46% said they'll put at least some of their refund into savings. But instead of saving or paying bills, some are determined to emphasize the "fun" in refund—11% said they would spend it on a vacation and 7% said they plan to go on a shopping spree, our survey finds.

This month's Zogby's American Consumer newsletter also focuses on America's love-affair with plastic money—but many find credit card convenience comes at a cost. More than a third (36%) in our survey admit being bothered by their credit card debt and said they worry a little that it will take a long time to pay off what they owe. But nearly one in five (19%) said they are very worried about their credit card debt and sometimes feel like they'll never pay it all off.