We saw significant gains in electronic filing this year. Our direct file program, where taxpayers file through a tax professional, saw a 27 percent increase, to 628,000 returns. TeleFile was down 38 percent, largely because we cut the population to control costs. And, we learned much from the 11,190 individuals who filed via the Internet. We will be looking at ways to increase the numbers of filers in all of those programs next year.
Electronic filing offers taxpayers confirmed receipt, reduced errors, and quicker refunds.
It offers the department the opportunity for increased efficiency. On the service side, April 15 proved to be the busiest day ever on our toll-free phone lines. Our taxpayer service representatives answered 4,357 phone calls while another 5,126 got help through our automated voice system. We believe that our decision to print a roadmap of our automated system in tax booklets and in our Taxpayer Services Guide accounts for a tripling in the number of callers who used that system to check on refunds. Use was even higher on our World Wide Web Site where more than 22,000 separate visitors entered the site on April 15.