The filing of tax returns continues to catch up with the 2020 season. The number of returns filed through March 5 were down by 18.1 from the corresponding period ended March 6, 2020, an improvement for being 23.7 percent behind last year in the prior weekly filing report.This year’s count includes 22 days of filing for the season which started on February 12, compared to 40 days for last year’s tax season.
There were 53,922,000 efiles through March 5, down 16.8 percent from 67,998,000 for the prior year’s period. The prior weekly report had the category 22.6 percent behind last year.
There were 23,926,000 efiles from paid preparers, off 23.9 percent from 31,430,000. That is an improvement from 30.5 percent down for the period ended February 26. There were 29,996,000 self-prepared efiles, a drop of 10.1 percent from 33,376,000, compared to being off 15.6 percent from the prior week’s report. The IRS has issued 36,049,000 returns for the season to date, down 31.6 percent from 52,721,000.
