Self-prepared returns continued to pull closer to the totals filed in last year’s tax season. The 38,164,000 DIY efiles received in the 36 days through March 19 were only 1.3 percent behind 38,685,000 efiled in the 54 filing days through March 20, 2020.If the rate of improvement continues, self-prepared returns should pull ahead of the comparable period in 2020 when the Internal Revenue Service issues its weekly filing statistics for the period through March 26.
The total number of returns received by the IRS reached 76,097,000 for the most recently reported period, off 9.6 period from 84,222,000 in the comparable period of 2020.
The 72,730,000 total efiles received for the season reported to date were down 8.7 percent from 84,222,000. Efiles from tax professionals were behind last year by 15.7 percent, 34,566,000 this year versus 41,003,000 a year earlier.
Total refunds issued remain well behind the 2020 pace. There were 49,722,000 made as of the most recent report, off 23.6 percent from 65,097,000 a year earlier.
