As do-it-yourselfers surge by more than a million.
Busy Season Barometer:
How Does This Year’s Busy Season Compare to Last Year’s?
Better, Worse, or About the Same?
By Beth Bellor
Tax professionals are losing their share of the e-filing market this tax season, dropping to 48.5 percent of all returns e-filed, down slightly more than one percentage point from the same time last year.
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The IRS had received 68 million individual income tax returns as of March 6 – the latest data available – up 0.4 percent from the same period in 2019. The agency had processed 65 million returns, down 0.5 percent.
The Internal Revenue Service’s processing rate for returns stood at 95.6 percent.
E-filing receipts
A total 64.8 million returns were e-filed, up 0.8 percent. Tax professionals filed 31.4 million of those, down 1.6 percent, while self-preparers handled 33.4 million, up 3.1 percent.
Tax pros have been responsible for 48.5 percent of e-filings.
Website visits
Visits to IRS.gov stood at 321.4 million, up 7.6 percent.
Refunds
There have been 52.7 million returns issued, down 1.4 percent, in the total amount of $158.8 billion, down 1.3 percent. The average refund at $3,012 was 0.1 percent higher.
Direct deposit refunds numbered 46.9 million, down 5 percent, with a total amount of $146.7 billion, down 4.3 percent. The average direct deposit refund was $3,129, up 0.7 percent.
Direct deposit made up 88.9 percent of refunds and 92.3 percent of the total pot.