Tax Pros Gain Slight Ground in E-Filings

The IRS remains in beast mode with its processing rate.

Chart of IRS filing statistics for the week ending Feb. 9, 2018
^ IRS filing statistics for the week ending Feb. 9, 2018

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines

Two weeks into the filing season, tax professionals have picked up a few percentage points over self-preparers.

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Comparison to 2017 remains a challenge because this year’s Jan. 29 season opener lops a full six days off the same reporting periods.

The IRS had received 30.9 million individual income tax returns as of Feb. 9, down 3.8 percent from the same period last year, when there had been six more filing days. It has processed 30 million returns this year, down 4.5 percent.

The IRS has processed 97.2 percent of returns received in 2018.