IRS News Releases  
IR-2009-23 March 13, 2009

Filing Tax Returns from Home Computers Up 20 Percent in 2009

WASHINGTON - Taxpayers are e-filing their Federal income tax returns from their home computers in record numbers this year the IRS announced today. As of March 6, more than 18 million income tax returns were filed from home computers, up 20 percent compared to the same time last year.

So far this year, almost 52 million tax returns have been e-filed, up 6 percent compared to the same time last year. However, the number of people using IRS Free File has fallen from almost 3 million last year to just under 2 million for the same time this year, a reduction of about 30 percent. A number of factors could be causing the decrease in Free File volumes, including national advertising of other free online tax preparation offers and the elimination of electronic filing fees by some software providers.

As of March 6, about 91 percent of tax returns resulted in a refund. This percentage however is usually at its highest at the start of the filing season because taxpayers expecting refunds usually file earlier than taxpayer who must make a payment.

The IRS cautioned that year-to-year analysis of total returns file will be an anomaly this year because last year�s results include those returns filed for the economic stimulus payment. As the year progresses, the IRS expects to receive and process more individual income tax returns during 2009 than in 2007 but fewer than in 2008.

2009 FILING SEASON STATISTICS

Cumulative through the weeks ending Mar. 7, 2008 and Mar. 6, 2009

Individual Income Tax Returns

2008

2009

% Change

Total Receipts

63,383,000

63,851,000

0.7%

Total Processed

59,270,000

59,763,000

0.8%

E-filing Receipts:

TOTAL

48,795,000

51,793,000

6.1%

Tax Professionals

33,419,000

33,349,000

-0.2%

Self-prepared

15,377,000

18,444,000

19.9%

Web Usage:

Visits to IRS.gov

90,729,850

116,774,933

28.7%

Total Refunds:

Number

53,176,000

54,638,000

2.7%

Amount

$136.976

Billion

$153.579

Billion

12.1%

Average refund

$2,576

$2,811

9.1%

Direct Deposit Refunds:

Number

41,665,000

44,744,000

7.4%

Amount

$117.808

Billion

$135.613

Billion

15.1%

Average refund

$2,827

$3,031

7.2%

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