Don't Be Afraid to eFile Your Return or
Use Electronic Payment for your Refund

It's almost passé now, but some people still remain concerned that by using eFile to send in your tax return your personal information will be exposed on-line.  That’s not the case at all. At every step of the way the IRS has been very careful to protect the security of the information that is transmitted into the system. Arguably the success of the program is the ultimate proof of their achievement.  In 2010 more than 116 million returns, which accounted for almost 70 percent of the total number of individual income tax returns, were filed electronically.

As a result of that success the IRS required that starting January 1, 2012, any tax return preparer who anticipates preparing and filing 11 or more Forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ and 1041 during a calendar year must use IRS e-file. Because of that mandate, during 2012, 82 percent of individual taxpayers filed their returns electronically, further reducing the IRS's processing costs.

Not only is the electronic filing process incredibly secure, it allows for faster processing and significantly fewer errors. When you mail in your return the numbers have to be entered into the IRS computer system by hand which may lead to mistakes requiring a second look at your return to double check the entries. 

Obviously as these mistakes were found they were compared against the original returns and corrected, but it still forced a human being to scrutinize the physical return and, in the process, open up that individual for a possible audit if the IRS employee didn’t understand the deductions.

Once your return is in the IRS computer system the possibility of being audited remains the same, from about 1% to about 2% depending on the complexity of the forms you use.

We Urge you to Use Automatic Deposit When You File. 

We understand when taxpayers are reluctant to use their bank accounts on their returns preferring to believe they are hiding the information from the Internal Revenue Service.  Unfortunately they already have it and it takes the IRS computer about 30 seconds to pull up your banking information. That’s why the bank requires your social security number and they report it to the IRS several times a year.

The benefit of allowing electronic deposits is your refund arrives at least a week faster than by mail and never gets stolen from your mail box. 

Electronic payments are also a convenient, safe and secure way for you to pay. Electronic payments options let you to file when you are ready and pay later as long as you pay by the due date.

If you have a balance due you can both e-file and pay the balance in a single step. You don’t have to pay when you file your return.  You can set up any date you like, up to the due date of April 15th, for the IRS to withdraw whatever you may owe.  That way you don’t forget to make the payment and find yourself owing even more in interest and possible penalties.

Payments Too!

You can authorize an electronic funds withdrawal or direct debit from your bank. Another option is to pay by credit card and delay out of pocket expenses. Bear in mind, if you pay by credit card the credit card company is likely to charge a fee.