This tax year has been a groundbreaking one for the IRS E-Filing system. As you can see in this letter from the IRS Newswire, the Internal Revenue Service has now processed over One Billion tax returns through electronic filings. The Electronic Filing system that began as a pilot project in 1986 has recently been heavily pushed by the IRS in recent years.
This year in particular has been the most explosive. Prior to the April 18th deadline of this tax year, the IRS had processed just over 100 million tax returns electronically. This is an enormous growth rate for only one year!
When asked about the IRS E-File system, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the following: “The one billion milestone means e-file has delivered real services to taxpayers, including faster refunds and more accurate tax returns. And because an e-file return costs us 20 times less to process than a paper return, this program means a more efficient government that has saved America’s taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”
There are a variety of ways a person can E-File based on the type of return they are filing. This year the IRS made it mandatory to E-File if a tax preparer is filing 100 or more tax returns. Next year E-Filing will be mandatory for all tax preparers who file 11 or more returns. The IRS set a goal of an eventual 80% of filers using E-File; this year the percentage was 79%.
As mentioned earlier, there are different ways of filing different returns. IRS Form 2290, for example, must be E-Filed by an IRS Authorized E-File provider. The IRS does not provide an electronic option to file this through their website, but they do publish a list of authorized services. Anyone who needs to file an IRS Form 2290 must use a recommended third party provider, such as Express Truck Tax, which also offers E-Filing for Form 8849, Free VIN Corrections, and online IFTA organizaton.
