Total returns filed of 49,652,000 represented a decline of 1.3 percent from 49,020,000 a year ago. But that is an improvement from the first report on February 6 when the total was down 3.5 percent.

The efiling totals reflected that improvement. The totals efiled by professionals were off by 9.3 percent for the first report. But for the most recently reported period, they hit, 23,725,000, down 4.8 percent from 22,588,000.

Self-prepared efiled returns have stayed ahead of last year's pace from the beginning—they increased by 2.2 percent as of February 6. The February 19 reported showed 24,170,000 DIY efiled returns, up from 24,170,000 the prior year.

The DIY numbers are driven primarily by sales of Intuit's TurboTax, which were up 9 percent to 19,375,000 units through February 19, compared to 17,760,000 in the corresponding period a year earlier. That number was held down by a drop in Free File Alliance filings, which fell by 5 percent to 464,000 sold.

There were 18,911,000 TurboTax units sold, an increase of 10 percent over 17,270,000 a year earlier. Sales of desktop TurboTax versions were essentially unchanged at 3,954,000 through February 20 while the number TurboTax Online units sold hit 14,957,000, a rise of 12 percent from 13,305,000.