More than 63 percent of all tax returns filed through March 19 were filed electronically, the IRS announced last week. IRS officials say the surge in e-file popularity shows that taxpayers are becoming more comfortable using computers to file their tax returns.
"Home computer users are on a record pace to use e-file this year," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "People are discovering that e-filing is the fastest, easiest way to do their taxes. There are fewer errors, and taxpayers get their refunds in less than half the time of paper returns."
Nearly 10 million returns were self-prepared on a home computer and submitted through e-file through March 19, representing a 22.9 percent increase from last year. The increased home computer use reflected part of a bigger overall increase in e-filing, with more than 43 million returns filed electronically -- an 11.4 percent increase from last year.
E-filing is showing growth in several categories. In addition to home computers, tax professional use of e-filing is up 10 percent.
And the IRS Free File program has received more than 2.46 million returns. That's an increase of more than 24 percent, representing nearly 500,000 more returns than the same period last year.
In addition, a new survey by SBC Communications Inc. found that for young, Internet-savvy college students and professionals, filling out paper tax forms and standing in post office lines would be as painful as giving up their Internet or cell phones for a week or even being publicly humiliated on a reality TV show.
The national survey of 18- to 30-year-old broadband Internet users found that 73 percent of those who file their own taxes do so electronically - outnumbering paper filers more than 3-to-1.
