E-Filing at Nearly 70%

The IRS started electronic filing in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Congress directed the IRS to increase electronic filing of individual income tax returns to 80% by 2007. While the IRS has yet to achieve this percentage, it is getting close. According to statistics for the 2010 filing season (for 2009 returns), the rate of taxpayers who e-file their federal income tax returns reached 69.96%, which is a 3% increase over the previous year.

An increasing number of taxpayers are preparing their own returns and filing them electronically from home computers. The rate for 2010 was 35%, an 8% increase over the previous year.

Also, almost 69% of all tax refunds are now deposited electronically, up from 66% in the previous year.

Source: IR-2010-112, 11/10/10