The Internet has quickened the pace of day-to-day life, from communicating to shopping to vacation planning. Now, with the April 17 income tax filing deadline looming, more and more people are using the Internet to expedite their tax-filing process.
The Internal Revenue Service reports a 95 percent increase nationwide in the use of on-line tax filing compared with last year at this time, and the Oregon Department of Revenue reports a 55 percent increase in Oregon.
“We have been busy with electronic filing this year more than ever,” Eugene H & R Block Premium tax consultant Betty Williams said. “Everybody seems to be using it.”
Both IRS and ODR officials say they will continue promoting electronic tax filing until they reach the goal set by Congress to have 80 percent of all tax reports filed via the Internet by 2007.
In addition to saving paper, electronic tax filing reduces the possibility for errors and makes the entire process quicker for both tax collectors and taxpayers, ODR spokeswoman Deni Cooperrider said.
The only catch to filing electronically is that both the federal and state income tax reports must be filed together, Cooperrider said.
“On-line filing cuts down on the number of steps in the process,” she said. “We certainly hope people will continue using e-filing in increasing numbers.”
On the taxpayers’ end, on-line filing programs safeguard against errors by checking math computations. Once the file is completed, it is sent directly to the appropriate department, thereby reducing the possibility of mistakes being made in the mail room or tax collectors’ offices, where data from hard copies is entered into computers.
Another advantage for taxpayers, Cooperrider said, is that electronic filing yields quicker refund payments.
“Refunds could be received as fast as nine days, where it could take eight weeks, even when there are no complications,” Cooperrider said.
The tax season usually creates last-minute filers flocking to post offices to meet the deadline, IRS spokesman David Haikin said. By using the Internet to file, however, he said taxpayers can now stay at home and avoid the crowds.