refunds are down 19% in number and total amount.
by beth bellor
as in recent years, accountants are losing ground to diyers when it comes to individual income tax returns. the question is, do they care? or is this ground they’re all too ready to yield for more profitable pastures?
more: survey: tax season swings into the red | another tax season from hell? | pros process 44% of tax e-filings | tax professionals report tough slogging | busy season 2021 gets off to weak start
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the irs had received 85 million returns as of march 26, down 6.2 percent in a season that started 18 days later than in 2020. it had processed 76 million, down 12.7 percent.
that pegs the current processing rate at 89.4 percent.
e-filings
returns filed electronically totaled 80.8 million, down 5.5 percent. that indicates 95.1 percent of all returns so far have been e-filed.
who is doing this? tax professionals handled 39.9 million e-filings, down 10.3 percent, and self-preparers hit “submit” on 40.9 million, down 0.4 percent.
the pros have processed 49.4 percent of e-filings.
website visits
visits to irs.gov continued to skyrocket, although there is no breakdown of how many people are seeking tax assistance and how many are heading straight to the “get my payment” page to check on their stimulus status. at 991.2 million visits, website traffic was up 151.1 percent.
refunds
there have been 56.5 million refunds issued, down 19.2 percent, in the total amount of $163.9 billion, down 19.4 percent. the average refund of $2,902 was down $6 or 0.2 percent.
direct deposit accounted for 53.2 million refunds, down 10 percent, in the total amount of $157.3 billion, down 12.9 percent. the average direct deposit refund of $2,959 was down 3.2 percent.