WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today announced the release of the 2008 IRS Data Book, which is an annual snapshot of IRS activities for a given fiscal year.

The report describes activities conducted by the IRS from Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 30, 2008, and includes information about returns filed, tax collections, enforcement and taxpayer assistance, as well as the IRS budget and workforce.

During fiscal year 2008, the IRS collected more than $2.3 trillion in taxes (net of refunds) and processed more than 250 million returns. More than 101 million returns, including 58 percent of individual income tax returns, were filed electronically.

More than 118 million individual income tax return filers received tax refunds that totaled almost $270.4 billion. Filers also received more than $95.7 billion in economic stimulus payments. In fiscal year 2008, IRS spent an average of 41 cents to collect each $100 of tax revenue.

The 2008 IRS Data Book has been posted on IRS.gov.

Printed copies of the IRS Data Book, Publication 55B, will be available by mid-April 2009 from the U.S. Government Printing Office. To obtain a copy, write to the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, or call (202) 512-1800 for voicemail, or fax a request to (202) 512-2250.