WASHINGTON — Nearly 99 million individuals efiled their federal income tax returns electronically during 2010, a 3-percent increase from the prior year. That's out of a total of 141.5 returns filed to date this year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. With mandates for efiling kicking in next year, that rate seems likely to increase.
The IRS noted that during the last decade the number of returns filed electronically has increased by 145 percent while the overall number of returns filed grew by only 8 percent. However, the 2010 efiling rate came as the number of returns filed dropped from 143.5 million in 2009, a decline of 1.4 percent.
The number of refunds directly deposited in taxpayer bank accounts grew at an even faster pace. There were 74.5 million returns directly deposited this year, a 2-percent increase of percent from just under 73 million in 2009. That meant direct deposits represented 69 percent of all refunds, up from 66 percent a year earlier.
The average refund was just under $3,000, an increase of 5.6 percent from 2009's $2,836. Refunds returned by direct deposit averaged $3.2 million, a rise of 5.7 percent from the prior year's $3,018.
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
