Analysis of January data shows more people visiting tax-related sites this year than last, with the bulk of those visitors being younger adults.

The January arrival of W-2 forms in mailboxes across the country signaled the official start of the tax season. While many Americans dread filing their returns, some are anxious to begin the process in hopes of receiving a refund check from Uncle Sam. Despite the inevitable toil, brave souls across the United States decided to get an early jump on the preparation and filing process in January, driving significant traffic to the Taxes category.

• More than 23 million Americans visited the Taxes category in January, an increase of 13 percent versus last year.
  
  
• IRS.gov led all sites in the Taxes category, drawing 11.5 million unique visitors in January 2006, and realizing a five-percent increase over the previous year.
  
  
• Online tax filing resources continue to show strong growth, as consumers look for easier methods of filing. TurboTax.com attracted 25 percent more traffic than last year (5.5 million visitors) while TaxActOnline.com attracted 87 percent more traffic (2.7 million visitors).

• Demographics of visitors to the Taxes category generally skew toward younger adults. Persons age 25 to 34 were 34 percent more likely than the average internet user to visit sites in the Tax category, while those age 35 to 44 were 24 percent more likely to do so.
  
  
• A closer look suggests that younger people may have been quicker to begin preparing and filing their taxes because they are typically less established financially, and are therefore more anxious to receive their refund checks. Those with household incomes below $60,000 index at or above average for visiting sites in the Taxes category during January, while those with incomes above $60,000 indexed below average.
  
  
• People age 65 and older were actually 18 percent less likely than average to visit sites in the Taxes category in January, which could signify a lack of comfort using the internet.
  
  
• Women were more likely than their male counterparts to access Tax sites in January. They were seven percent more likely than the average internet user to visit these sites, while men were seven percent less likely.