IRS News Release  
March 11, 1999

Taxpayers Get Double-Duty from E-Filing

WASHINGTON - More than 6 million taxpayers have found that if filing one tax return electronically is good, e-filing two is better -- especially when they can send both together. According to the Internal Revenue Service, such federal/state e-filings have increased by 33.5 percent over this time last year.

Thirty-six states allow taxpayers to e-file their federal and state returns in one transmission, either through tax professionals or from their home computers. The IRS receives the data and sends the state information on to the state tax agencies for their processing.

"This partnership with the states gives taxpayers the same benefits for their state tax returns -- greater accuracy, faster refunds and an acknowledgment of filing -- that they enjoy for their federal returns," said Bob Barr, IRS Assistant Commissioner for Electronic Tax Administration. "Taxpayers are responding strongly and positively to the electronic tax options the IRS and the state tax agencies are offering."

Seven states -- including four federal/state participants -- have independent computer-filing programs, in which they receive the state tax data directly. More than 2 million taxpayers have filed their state returns through such programs this year.

Twenty-four states also offer telephone filing for state returns. Two of them -- Indiana and Kentucky -- are testing a federal/state TeleFile with the IRS. Nearly 1.8 million taxpayers have filed their state returns by phone this year.

Taking these various state options together, about 9.9 million taxpayers have e-filed their state returns so far this year, nearly two-thirds of the 15.6 million taxpayers in the same states who have e-filed their federal returns.

Nationwide, the IRS had received 20.2 million e-filed returns as of Mar. 5, up 14.3 percent from last year. The IRS has processed more than $52.3 billion in refunds, compared to $45.1 billion at this time last year. The average tax refund -- $1677 -- is up 15.6 percent.

[EDITORS' NOTE: States participating in e-filing programs are listed below]


FEDERAL/STATE FILING BY COMPUTER

Alabama

Illinois

Missouri

Oklahoma

Arizona

Indiana

Montana

Oregon

Arkansas

Iowa

Nebraska

Pennsylvania

Colorado

Kansas

New Jersey

Rhode Island

Connecticut

Kentucky

New Mexico

South Carolina

Delaware

Louisiana

New York

Utah

Dist. Columbia

Maryland

North Carolina

Virginia

Georgia

Michigan

North Dakota

West Virginia

Idaho

Mississippi

Ohio

Wisconsin


FEDERAL/STATE FILING BY PHONE

Indiana

Kentucky


DIRECT STATE FILING BY COMPUTER

California

Minnesota

Illinois

New Mexico

Maryland

New York

Massachusetts


DIRECT STATE FILING BY PHONE

Arkansas

Illinois

Minnesota

Ohio

California

Iowa

Mississippi

Pennsylvania

Colorado

Kansas

Missouri

South Carolina

Connecticut

Louisiana

Montana

Utah

Idaho

Maine

Nebraska

Wisconsin

Massachusetts

New Jersey


1999 FILING SEASON STATISTICS

Cumulative through the week ending 3/6/98 and 3/5/99

1998

1999

% Change

Individual Income Tax Returns

Total Receipts

45,045,000

46,106,000

2.4

Total Processed

34,110,000

34,092,000

-0.1

E-filing Receipts:

TOTAL

17,680,000

20,212,000

14.3

TeleFile (phone)

4,375,000

4,132,000

- 5.6

Computer

13,305,000

16,080,000

20.9

Tax Professionals

12,816,000

14,805,000

15.5

Self-prepared

489,000

1,275,000

160.8

Refunds Certified by the Martinsburg Computing Center:

Number

31,051,000

31,211,000

0.5

Amount of principal

$45.022 billion

$52.331 billion

16.2

Average refund

$1450

$1677

15.6

Direct Deposit Refunds:

Number

12,525,000

15,127,000

20.8

Amount

$23.960 billion

$32.332 billion

34.9

Previous | Next

1999 IRS News Releases | News Releases Main | Home