The number of returns for the week ended March 1, 54,030,000, was down 1.7 percent from 54,948,000 for the year ended March 3, 2023.
Efiles were catching up with the 2023 season total at a slightly faster rate. This year's total was off 1.5 percent at 52,795,000 from 53,598,000 in last year's corresonding period.
There were 28,279,000 self-prepared efiles, lagging .4 percent behind 28,387,000 in the period through March 3 a year ago. Efiles from paid preparers, who typically file in greater numbers later in the season, totaled 24,516,000, down 2.8 percent from 25,210,00 a year ago.
The numbers of refunds issued continued to trail last year's total by double digits. The 36,288,000 issued to date as reported were 13.7-percent lower than 42,040,000, a year earlier. The average refund continued to improve over 2023 with the total hitting $3,244 this year, 4.1-percent higher than $3,115 in 2023.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
