We may be doomed.
According to a recent Cash App Taxes survey, a whopping 25% of Gen Z taxpayers said they’d need a therapist to deal with the stress of tax-filing season.
Additionally, 54% said filing taxes has either brought them to tears in the past or expects to be brought to tears this year.
I’m frightened for the world if any of this is true.
I’m trying not to sound unsympathetic, but this is ridiculous. Have people really become so fragile that tax season requires the assistance of a mental health professional?
CNBC, which first reported this study, also quoted Richard Pianoforte, managing director at Fiduciary Trust International, as saying he’s surprised the number isn’t higher.
“I have children in that age group…and I don’t think they’re prepared for it, school doesn’t prepare them for it, and it’s totally understandable,” he says.
No, Richard. It’s not. Schools have never prepared students for tax season. “Tax Preparation 101” cannot be found on a syllabus anywhere, yet, for decades, Americans have filed their tax returns without needing a weekly appointment with a trained therapist.
No, Richard. If someone needs a therapist to cope with filing their taxes, something has gone seriously wrong with the world. Americans of a certain age have become the equivalent of Faberge eggs.
CNBC adds:
Even figuring out which documents you need to file can be anxiety-inducing, with 62% of first-time filers saying they aren’t sure where to get their W-2s or 1099s.
Really? Not sure where to get their W-2s and 1099s?
That’s weird because I just Googled “Where do I get my W-2 or 1099?” and strangely enough, I found the answer.
Almost every W-2 and 1099 required to file your taxes can be found in your mailbox. Your employer is required to send them to you before January 31. And if you don’t receive these forms after January 31?
Ask your employer for a copy.
The survey also reported that almost half of Gen Z members were unsure of the tax deadline.
That’s weird, too, because I just Googled that question, and believe it or not, the answer popped right up. I could’ve also looked at almost any calendar, which often marks tax day. Or I could’ve asked my 11-year-old son, Charlie, who also knows—I’m not sure how—that the filing deadline is April 15.
How can anyone in the age of the internet whine about not knowing something when almost all human knowledge is now available at their fingertips? When I was younger, before the internet became what it is today, information was admittedly scarce. Hunting down much-needed bits and bytes was challenging. Facts were not served up on a silver platter.
But even then, I didn’t cry, nor did my friends. No one required therapy after April 15. Instead of Google, we asked friends, consulted coworkers, and enlisted the support of parents.
When Elysha and I first met in 2003, at the dawn of the consumer-friendly internet, she asked me to help her with her taxes. Her father had assisted in previous years, but since I was two doors down and knew something about tax returns after having to complete my own for years, she asked me for help. I could’ve completed her taxes in 15 minutes, but I stretched it to more than an hour because I already had a crush on her and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
But she didn’t cry as we filled in the boxes. She didn’t seek out therapeutic support once the forms were complete.
Tax filing can admittedly become complicated if you own a business, sell products overseas, invest in stocks and bonds, or sell property. But if you have a job or even two or three jobs but don’t own a business or do business overseas, you can probably complete your tax return in less than 30 minutes.
Even with those complicating factors, most people can do their own taxes in an hour or two.
Not sure how to complete those forms, which are rife with specific instructions on how to do so?
Get a free guide at the post office.
Watch a YouTube video from a reputable source.
Ask a parent or friend to help.
Or how about this?
Why not pay an accountant instead of a therapist? It will likely be less expensive and time-consuming, and you probably won’t cry.
Please don’t get me wrong. It’s fine to cry. I’m not opposed to crying. It can be quite cathartic.
I’m also not opposed to therapy. I’ve made excellent use of therapy in the past.
But I’m opposed to making a big deal out of an ordinary thing. I’m opposed to large numbers of people falling apart over paperwork. I’m opposed to people whining about their inability to locate information readily available with a few clicks of the keyboard. I’m opposed to people who spend an enormous amount of time staring at screens who are unable to use those same screens to complete a task that generations before them have completed with far fewer resources.
If I were a member of Gen Z, I would be thinking one of three things after reading this survey:
- What the hell is wrong with me? I should not be this fragile.
- What the hell is wrong with the people in my generation? They are making us look like buffoons.
- This survey is bogus. It can’t be accurate. I demand a recount.
As a member of Gen X, I am left thinking one of two things, too:
- Please don’t let this survey be an accurate accounting of the mental fortitude of Gen Z. It can’t be correct. Right?
- If this survey is accurate, we are all doomed.
