you know the flip side … self-preparers are creeping toward the two-thirds mark.
by beth bellor
tax season is upon us and the filings are pouring in, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research.
more on taxes: can the irs improve its phone service? | when clients face ‘unreal’ irs audits | irs warns about private debt collectors for tax season 2018 | underfunded irs swamped with problems
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
an initial glance at statistics for the week ending feb. 2 shows data points down considerably from the same week in 2017, occasionally by double digits.
however, the start date skews appearances. the jan. 29 opening means there were six fewer days of tax return processing in the 2018 totals. according to the irs, when comparing by the same number of filing days, the number of returns has increased.
at the end of the first week of returns feb. 2, the irs had received 18.3 million individual income tax returns, down 9.3 percent from feb. 3, 2017. it had processed 17.9 million of them, down 10.2 percent.
the irs has processed 98 percent of returns received in 2018.
e-filing receipts are down 9.7 percent to 17.5 million, with 6.7 million of those from tax professionals (down 13.5 percent) and 10.8 million self-prepared (down 7.2 percent).
tax pros handled only 38.5 percent of e-filed returns to date.
with cutbacks to the irs continuing, doubtless anyone is surprised that visits to its website are up 8.7 percent, to 74.4 million.
refunds are down in both number and amount. refunds number 6.2 million, down 6.4 percent, and total $12.6 billion, down 4.5 percent. the average refund at $2,035 is up 2.1 percent.
direct deposit refunds mirror that pattern. refunds number 5.9 million, down 5.8 percent, and total $12.2 billion, down 4.2 percent. the average direct deposit refund at $2,084 is up 1.7 percent.
direct deposit accounts for 95 percent of all refunds. these refunds average 2.4 percent higher than the overall average.
