People in Colorado are most anxious about their tax returns, new research has revealed.

The study by tax relief professionals Ideal Tax analysed Google data from each state based on searches for more than 150 terms related to filing a tax return, such as “tax calculator”, “Tax deadline 2023” and “child tax credit”. The results were compared against each state’s population to reveal where people are searching most for tax help.

Colorado topped the ranking with 4,456 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. This is based on the fact that people in the state register an average of 260,269 searches for tax-related topics each month, which when compared against its population of around 5.8 million people results in the highest rate of searches in the country.

Georgia places second in the ranking, with a slightly lower rate of 4,425 tax related searches for every 100,000 people in the state, which is calculated from estimated searches 482,945 each month from its population of 10,912,876.

Third in the tax-search rankings is Virginia, where the 8.6 million population Google tax-related terms on average 380,624 times each month. That equates to 4,383 searches for every 100,000 people in the state.

The top five is completed by Washington in fourth place, on 4243 searches per 100,000 people, and California just behind on 4,234 monthly searches.

At the other end of the scale, Iowa ranks as the state least anxious about its tax returns, as people there generate an estimated 91,779 tax searches each month, which works out at 2,867 per 100,000 people when compared against the state’s population.

Mississippi is the second least interested in Googling tax-related terms, with an average monthly rate of 2,904 for every 100,000 of its population. South Dakota also has low search levels on 2,955 searches for every 100,000 people.

Commenting on the study, a spokesperson for Ideal Tax said: “Our data found that more than 25 million searches are made on average each month for tax related terms, which highlights just how much taxes occupy Americans’ thoughts throughout the year. It’s important to keep track of your finances so that filing a return is as simple as possible, however if you do get into tax problems, then there are options, such as the IRS Fresh Start Program or the IRS Forgiveness Program which can help.”

The study was conducted by Ideal Tax, a tax resolution and mediation company that specializes in reducing tax debt, removing of wage garnishments, bank levies and liens on property, securing tax debt relief options, and assisting with tax audits while providing protection against property seizure.