This is an especially interesting time for those of us who work with taxes. Forms, schedules and deductions are on everyone’s mind and when one knows you have some knowledge, they want to pick your brain. This is not a complaint, for we do this because we enjoy it and there is a level of satisfaction that comes with knowing you provide a service that others need.

Well, this at least applies to those others who go about it in the right way. There are also those who are simply looking to take advantage of those services, getting as much as they can without paying for it. I don’t have any numbers to back this up, but with the increased access to do-it-yourself tax-preparation services in the last decade or so, the number of those questions may have increased.

(And should that not be a warning to any who use such means to handle their taxes? If you still think there are secret ways to bigger refunds, maybe you should be working with someone who could give you access to that “hidden” knowledge to start.)

Amazingly, the people who are most intent on getting that information out of you are often the ones who are most upset when you do not give them the answers they were seeking. On some level, they feel they already know the answer and just need someone to back them up. Even if the first nudge toward that knowledge came from an undignified source three degrees of separation away, they so much want it to be true that they ignore mounds of evidence to the contrary to find the one small piece that backs up their preconceived notion.

This phenomenon even has a name – the Confirmation Bias. This is the tendency to interpret and favor information in a way that proves your worldview correct. Beyond that, it also includes an active search for such material. It helps explain why conspiracy theories can take such a strong hold; if you will not be satisfied until you find evidence that proves your point of view, then you will find it.

Social network analyst Valdis Krebs has done research on what political books people purchase, finding that those who read liberal-leaning books tend to largely buy only other liberal books, while those with conservative leanings overwhelmingly buy books written from the perspective of the other end of the spectrum. And if one prefers to get their news from MSNBC or Fox News, there is a reason beyond which station has prettier graphics.

The mental pull to seek out self-affirming knowledge probably gets a little stronger when it can have an effect on one’s finances.  Making a mistake there, however, can have larger implications. Do you want to just believe than claiming a deduction is allowed by the IRS, or do you really want to know?

On most levels, I think everyone benefits from being willing to be wrong; that is how we learn, that is how we experience new things. Our brains, though, do not always make this easy. This means there can be peace of mind in having a qualified, disinterested third party handle some things for you.

If you then are finding the tax world maddening as you search information that can lead to greater benefits – and maybe ignoring knowledge that goes in the other direction – why not instead enlist the help of someone who knows? We love this stuff after all.  Give us a call 508.791.7982