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February 20, 2020 at 04:23 PM
As the 2020 filing season revs up, tax professionals should be aware — and most probably already are — that taxpayers remain confused about the new tax law.
How confused?
Plenty, according to a survey of taxpayers released Thursday by TaxAudit, an audit defense service.
The poll, conducted by SurveyMonkey among 1,050 U.S. adults from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, found that 45% of respondents still had questions about filing their taxes under the sweeping tax overhaul enacted in 2017.
The most confusing aspect of filing taxes, according to respondents, was understanding tax credits, deductions and whether or not to itemize.
Fifty-six percent were uncertain whether the tax overhaul had made it easier or harder for them to do their taxes; 23% said it had made it harder. Almost half were unsure whether the new tax law was better than the old one, while a quarter said it was better.
Some three in four taxpayers surveyed were unaware of recent bills that had been enacted since then, including the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2020, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act in 2019, the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
“This survey shows how confused taxpayers still are about the newer tax laws, and it’s imperative to understand how this year’s changes could impact returns,” TaxAudit’s customer advocacy officer Dave Du Val said in a statement.
This year, there are new changes to deductions, credits and limits that taxpayers should be aware of to minimize their tax burden and avoid tax debt, according to Du Val.
