The dreaded annual personal income tax filing deadline of April 15th has come and gone another year. Now, it is time to focus on more pleasant things like beaches, barbecue, and family vacations. However, before we do, we thought it would be interesting to look back at the statistics from this past tax year to see if they can teach us anything about trends in going paperless.
Taxes have long been one of the government's most paper-intensive processes. Millions of returns are printed, mailed, and processed every year. Keeping tabs on the number of people who choose to use e-filing offers a good indication of how comfortable Americans are becoming with going paperless.
In January 2005, the IRS projected the number of individual taxpayers filing their taxes electronically would surpass 50 percent for the first time. In just 4 years (2009), e-filing accounted for three-quarters of all income tax returns. This year, more than 78% of all returns were filed electronically, an increase of almost 3%.
Most of this increase came from individuals filing their own returns electronically. Almost 1.5 million more individuals e-filed their self-prepared returns this year and is a strong indicator that average Americans are growing more comfortable filing a paperless tax return.
Another barometer is how we are electing to receive our tax refund payments. In 2010, over 77% of all refunds were made using electronic direct deposit. This saved the printing of 61.5 million paper checks and from being mailed out across the country.
What about other paper-intensive government processes? A proposal has already been floated for i-voting in the general election for military personnel stationed overseas. And, what about the United States Census conducted every 10 years? If the rate at which Americans are transitioning to paperless tax returns and refund payments are any indication, the 2010 Census may very well be the last one you have to fill out on a paper form and return it via the mail!
i/oTrak is committed to making paper easier. We are a Kodak Authorized Info & Photo Scanning Equipment Reseller and Document Conversion Center. We offer a range of back-office services to help businesses of all sizes with their document needs, including E-Z Scan, E-Z Store, E-Z Shred, and E-Z Send.
