tax filings: everything up but refunds

data chartpros handled 57% of e-filings.

by beth bellor

with only three days left in the tax season, things finally were looking up.

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all the figures were positive … except the one of most interest to many taxpayers. refunds not only were in the red, but on every point by larger percentages than last week. the picture was slightly better for direct deposit refunds, but even there, average refunds dropped.

as of april 12, the latest data available, the internal revenue service had received 119.4 million individual income tax returns, up 0.7 percent from the same period the previous year. it had processed 155.7 million returns, up 0.8 percent.

the return processing rate stood at 96.9 percent.

e-filing receipts

of all returns, 111.4 milllion were filed electronically, up 2.2 percent. tax professionals handled 63.3 million, up 0.4 percent. self-prepared returns totaled 48.1 million, up 4.5 percent.

tax pros had filed 56.8 percent of returns submitted electronically.

website visits

visits to irs.gov totaled 399.5 million, up 10 percent.

refunds

total refunds numbered 84.4 million, down 1.9 percent, in an amount totaling $236 billion, down 3.1 percent. the average refund of $2,795 was down 1.3 percent.

total direct deposit refunds numbered 74.6 million, up 1.5 percent, in an amount totaling $218.2 billion, down 0.5 percent. the average direct deposit refund of $2,924 was down 2.1 percent.

direct deposit accounted for 88.4 percent of refunds and 92.5 percent of the total amount. direct deposit refunds on average were 4.6 higher than their paper cousins.