The filing of tax returns continues to catch up with the 2020 season. The number of returns filed through March 5 were down by 18.1 from the corresponding period ended March 6, 2020, an improvement for being 23.7 percent behind last year in the prior weekly filing report.
This year’s count includes 22 days of filing for the season which started on February 12, compared to 40 days for last year’s tax season.
There were 53,922,000 efiles through March 5, down 16.8 percent from 67,998,000 for the prior year’s period. The prior weekly report had the category 22.6 percent behind last year.
There were 23,926,000 efiles from paid preparers, off 23.9 percent from 31,430,000. That is an improvement from 30.5 percent down for the period ended February 26. There were 29,996,000 self-prepared efiles, a drop of 10.1 percent from 33,376,000, compared to being off 15.6 percent from the prior week’s report. The IRS has issued 36,049,000 returns for the season to date, down 31.6 percent from 52,721,000.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind