IR-2008-47, March 20, 2008
WASHINGTON — The continued growth of Free ob体育 shows taxpayers are taking advantage of the program’s benefits, which include free electronic return preparation and filing of tax returns, as well as quicker refunds with direct deposit.
The number of tax returns filed via Free ob体育 as of the end of February has jumped more than 12 percent compared with the same period last year, the Internal Revenue Service said.
“Free ob体育 provides an opportunity for taxpayers to prepare and file their tax returns electronically for free,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda E. Stiff. “Free ob体育 is also available to individuals who normally do not file a tax return but must do so this year in order to qualify for the economic stimulus payment.”
Free ob体育 is run by the IRS and the Free ob体育 Alliance, LLC, a private-sector consortium of tax software companies. Over 22 million taxpayers have used Free ob体育 since its inception. Their partnership is intended to provide taxpayers earning $54,000 or less with a free, safe and quick way to prepare and file their taxes. Free ob体育 is available to 70 percent of taxpayers.
Use of Free ob体育, like electronic filing in general, continues to see steady growth. Nearly 3.0 million taxpayers used Free ob体育 as of the end of February, compared with 2.6 million who used it during the same period last year.
Customer satisfaction with Free ob体育 also remains high. Taxpayers find the program to be easy and convenient to use. Individuals who e-file using the Free ob体育 program can get their refunds in as little as 10 days with direct deposit. Also Free ob体育 has been improved in the last few years to ensure taxpayers aren't subjected to marketing and advertising messages while preparing their returns.
The IRS works with Free ob体育 partners to enhance the Free ob体育 program when new tax laws are enacted. For instance, changes were made to Free ob体育 to accommodate recently enacted legislation creating the economic stimulus payment and expanding the exclusion for debt forgiveness, which is targeted to taxpayers who have lost their homes because of difficulty with their mortgage payments.
IRS Free ob体育 also is now available to people who normally do not file a tax return but must do so this year to receive their 2008 economic stimulus payment. People who have no legal requirement to file other than to receive their payments should take care to use only those companies listed on the Free ob体育 - Economic Stimulus Payment page on this Web site.
While not all Free ob体育 offerings serve all taxpayers, the Free ob体育 assistor can be used to guide taxpayers to the Free ob体育 offering that is right for them.
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2008 FILING SEASON STATISTICS |
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Cumulative through the weeks ending 3/16/07 and 3/14/08 |
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Individual Income Tax Returns |
2007 |
2008 |
% Change |
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Total Receipts |
67,705,000 |
71,028,000 |
4.9% |
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Total Processed |
63,799,000 |
66,656,000 |
4.5% |
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E-filing Receipts: |
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TOTAL |
49,401,000 |
53,359,000 |
8.0% |
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Tax Professionals |
35,105,000 |
36,771,000 |
4.7% |
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Self-prepared |
14,296,000 |
16,588,000 |
16.0% |
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Web Usage: |
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Visits to IRS.gov |
88,834,000 |
100,660,000 |
13.3% |
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Total Refunds: |
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Number |
57,434,000 |
59,199,000 |
3.1% |
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Amount |
$141.680 |
Billion |
$149.621 |
Billion |
5.6% |
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Average refund |
$2,467 |
$2,527 |
2.5% |
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Direct Deposit Refunds: |
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|
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Number |
42,057,000 |
45,023,000 |
7.1% |
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Amount |
$117.429 |
Billion |
$126.127 |
Billion |
7.4% |
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Average refund |
$2,792 |
$2,801 |
0.3% |
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