The Future of Tax Returns

The fact that now you can file your taxes through the Internet is quite amazing and there are many benefits to it. I work in an accounting office and about 95% of the returns that we prepare are "e-filed". The process is quite simple, the accountants prepare the returns, the clients review the returns, and when we have the authorization from them we push a button and their returns are transmitted directly to the IRS. Most tax returns are accepted within a day and people get their refunds a lot faster than if they were to file their returns by paper. Not only is it faster and more efficient, but it is also helpful to the environment. Some of the more complex tax returns are HUGE and before e-filing became so popular they used to print out the client's return to mail to the government, and then a copy for the tax payer. Now we only have to make one copy and in some cases, the returns are just sent via email to the client so that they have the option of just saving their return onto the computer, so the fact that you are saving paper is definitely a plus.

I also feel that it is a very safe procedure. Like i said before, the program sends the return directly to the IRS so you can assure that it goes into the right hands. I feel more safe e-filing my return than putting it in the mail where it is more likely that someone could tamper with it. In most cases, if there is an error on your taxes, the IRS will reject the return and let you know what the problem is. Not saying that it will catch every single error, but it does help. Again, this makes the process much faster and efficient. If the return would have been filed by paper, you would get a letter in the mail probably weeks or months after the fact, and then the return would have to be amended, making the whole process even longer. 

I think that eventually, the IRS is going to make it so that ALL returns are be required to file electronically. I don't know how well this would work since there are many people, mainly elderly people, that do not like their returns being e-filed. I think that people should still have the option of how they want to file their returns, but it looks like that is where everything is heading.