During the filing season ending August 31, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released comprehensive statistics on individual income tax returns. These figures not only reveal filing trends but also reflect changing behaviors among American taxpayers. The data provides valuable insights for future tax policy development and financial planning strategies.
1. Individual Income Tax Filing Overview
Comparative IRS data between 2017 and 2018 shows consistent growth in tax filings:
- Total returns received: Increased from 145.329 million in 2017 to 147.358 million in 2018 (1.4% growth)
- Returns processed: Rose from 145.070 million to 147.058 million (1.4% growth)
2. Expansion of E-Filing
Electronic filing demonstrated significant adoption in 2018:
- Total e-filed returns: Grew from 127.277 million to 129.931 million (2.1% increase)
- Professional-prepared e-files: Increased from 74.512 million to 75.423 million (1.2% growth)
- Self-prepared e-files: Jumped from 52.765 million to 54.508 million (3.3% increase)
This trend indicates taxpayers' growing preference for digital filing to access faster refunds and more convenient processing.
3. Website Traffic Surge
The IRS.gov platform experienced remarkable growth as taxpayers' primary information source:
- Total visits: Soared from 417.4 million in 2017 to 520.2 million in 2018 (24.6% increase)
4. Refund Statistics
Refund patterns provide insight into taxpayers' financial well-being:
- Total refunds issued: Remained stable at 108.761 million (2017) vs. 108.757 million (2018)
- Total refund amount: Grew from $302.529 billion to $303.761 billion (0.4% increase)
- Average refund: Rose from $2,782 to $2,793 (0.4% growth)
5. Direct Deposit Trends
Direct deposit refunds showed moderate increases:
- Direct deposit refunds: Increased from 88.052 million to 88.494 million (0.5% growth)
- Direct deposit amount: Grew from $260.744 billion to $262.378 billion (0.6% increase)
- Average direct deposit: Inched up from $2,961 to $2,965 (0.1% rise)
The 2018 individual tax filing season demonstrated consistent growth across all metrics. As financial awareness improves and digital technologies advance, taxpayer behavior continues shifting toward electronic, streamlined filing processes. These trends provide valuable data for tax authorities and policymakers to enhance service delivery and regulatory frameworks.