IRS:  Volume High At Start of Tax Season

 WASHINGTON — The IRS announced that, three weeks into the filing season, it has received about one-third of the individual income tax returns that it expects to receive during 2014. 

The IRS has processed almost 98 percent of the 49.6 million returns received so far. Each week this filing season, the IRS has processed a greater percentage of the returns received than during comparable weeks last year. 

More taxpayers are filing their returns electronically this year. Overall, 46.6 million returns have been e-filed this year, up one percent from the same time last year. As in prior years, the greatest increase is among individuals filing from their home computers. Almost 22 million returns have been e-filed from home computers this year, an increase of almost 7 percent compared to the same time last year. 

The IRS has issued more than 40 million tax refunds this year, an increase of more than six percent compared to the same time last year. Almost 90 percent of these refunds were directly deposited into taxpayers’ accounts.

Source:  Internal Revenue Service at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Continues-Smooth-Start-to-Filing-Season