Free File Tops Last Year's Total

More people have used Free File so far this year than for all of last year, according to the latest figures from the Internal Revenue Service. As of March 16, 3.55 million tax returns have gone through Free File, up 44 percent compared to the same time last year and exceeding last year's total of 3.51 million. Now in its third year, Free File is a partnership between the IRS and a consortium of tax software manufacturers. Electronic filing continues to surge, with e-filed returns running 7 percent ahead of last year. Of the 67 million returns filed as of March 18, 68 percent were e-filed. While this percentage will decline as April 15 approaches, the IRS said it expects that for the first time more than half of all individual tax returns will be electronically filed this year.