Returns poured in for the last few days of tax season, which ended on April 18. That may be all it is safe to say is comparing results with last year, whose filing deadline was extended to May 17, provides no obvious pattern.
There were 138,942,000 returns filed through April 22, an increase of 19.2 percent from 116,139,000 for the period through April 23, 2023. This year’s total was more than 6 million returns higher than the 122,543,000 received through April.
There were 133,410,000 efiles as of the latest report, up 22 percent from 109,381,000 in last year’s corresponding period.
Paid preparers submitted 70,509,000 efiles for the season as reported, an increase of 20.5 percent from 58,506,000 a year ago. More than 11 million self-prepared efiles poured in during the last week with 62,900,000 received through April 22, rising 23.6 percent from 50,875,000 a year ago.
The IRS issued 88,667,000 in refunds through April 22, an increase of 14.6 percent from 77,652,000 a year ago. The average return rose 4.9 percent to $3,012 from $2,870.
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