More Taxpayers File from Home in 2013

The Internal Revenue Service has provided updated statistics showing continued growth in electronic filing of tax returns. As of May 20, 2013, more than 43 million people have self-prepared and e-filed their tax returns from home, an increase of more than 4 percent compared to the prior year.

Through May 10, the IRS received more than 43.6 million self-prepared e-file returns, up from 41.7 million a year earlier. E-filed returns from tax professionals increased slightly, reaching almost 70.4 million. In all, almost 114 million tax returns came in through e-file this year, up from 112.1 million at this point last year.

Other highlights from the new filing season statistics show:

The IRS issued more than 101 million refunds worth almost $268 billion in 2013.

• Almost 80 percent of refunds used direct deposit.
• More people are using IRS.gov to get answers, file their returns and resolve issues. So far in 2013, the IRS web site has been accessed more than 300 million times, up almost 25 percent compared to the same time last year.

Source: Internal Revenue Service