There were 43,005,000 self-prepared efiles, a rise of 3.3 percent from 41,616,000 for last year’s corresponding period. Tax professionals submitted 53,839,000 efiles for the year to date, down .8 percent from 54,283.000 through April 6, a year ago. That compared to being 2 percent behind for the season through March 29.

Total returns submitted remained behind the year-ago totals but continued to close the gap on 2018. The Internal Revenue Service had received 103,460,000 for the reported period, a .3-percent drop from 103,762,000.

Average refunds dipped from 2018 levels. The average refund through April 5  was $2,961, down 1.7 percent  from a year earlier. $3,013. That compares to the March 2 level which was off 1.4 percent from the reported period last year.