Get Most Taxpayers And Tax Preparers This Year Will Use Irs E-file To File Their Tax Returns Or

Highlights of the data More than 213.3 million returns and other forms were filed electronically. These represented 78.6 percent of all filings. For individual tax returns, 90.7 percent were filed electronically (Table 4XLSX).

Form 1040 is used by U.S. taxpayers to file an annual income tax return.

Beginning Jan. 29, 2024, Free File Fillable forms, a part of this effort, is available at no cost to any income level and provides electronic forms that people can fill out and e-file themselves also at no cost.

Online Account. In November 2016, the IRS launched Online Account, a self-service application that allows taxpayers to check the amount they owe, see their payment history in the last two years, view a snapshot of their most recently filed tax return and link to payment options or full transcripts.

The electronic filing or e-filing method of filing one's taxes has been around for over 30 years. The history of e-filing began in 1986 as a small test program where only five tax preparers from the metropolitan areas of Cincinnati, Raleigh-Durham, and Phoenix agreed to participate.

E-FILE HISTORICAL TIMELINE 1986: Initial filing season pilot with 5 tax preparers in 3 cities; 25,000 returns filed. The program could only accept simple returns that were due a refund. 1987: Pilot expanded to 7 cities; 78,000 returns filed. Direct Deposit was added as a benefit.

The Internal Revenue Service first allowed individual income tax returns to be filed electronically (e-filed) through a pilot program that began in 1986 and involved five tax preparers.

The IRS pioneered the use of automated data processing in the early 1960s to keep track of taxpayer account information more efficiently and harness the power of technology. The agency's first computer, an IBM 7074, enabled the IRS to centralize incoming data.