tax pro efilings down for 2019, irs reports in final tally

data chart

taxpayers’ average refund cut by 2.7%.

by beth bellor

as most americans’ tax filing deadline came and went, the number of refunds was up but the average amount was down.

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the irs had received137.2 million individual income tax returns as of the week ending april 19, the latest data available. it had processed 130.8 million returns; both figures were up by 0.2 percent from the same period in 2018.

the agency’s processing rate stood at 95.3 percent.

e-filing receipts

electronic filings totaled 126.3 million, up 1.4 percent. of those 70.5 million were handled by tax pros, down 0.7 percent, and 55.8 million by diyers, up 4.2 percent.

professionals submitted 55.8 percent of e-filings.

website visits

visits to irs.gov numbered 421.5 million, up 8.9 percent.

refunds

total refunds numbered 95.7 million, up 0.3 percent, in the total amount of $260.9 billion, down 1.7 percent. the average refund of $2,725 was down 2 percent.

total direct deposit refunds numbered 83.3 million, up 3.4 percent, in the total amount of 238.4 billion, up 0.6 percent. the average direct deposit refund was $2,863, down 2.7 percent.

direct deposit accounted for 87 percent of refunds and 91.4 percent of the total pot. on average, direct deposit refunds were 5.1 percent higher than their paper counterparts.