Why Procrastinators, and Everyone Else, Loves e-Filing

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — It’s that time again — tax season. And procrastination is in full swing.

With e-filling however, even the procrastinators can meet the looming filing deadline easily. E-filing has numerous advantages, and chief among them is convenience.

“You can e-file with the IRS literally until 11:59 p.m. on April 15,” says Julie Miller, spokeswoman for TurboTax. “There’s no reason anymore to wait in line at the post office.”

But speed is just one of many advantages associated with e-filing.

In addition to being able to file your tax return up until the last minute, e-filing lets you get your refund faster.

According to Heather Watts, a product specialist for H&R Block, e-filing is the quickest way to get your money back.

“If you use e-file with direct deposit, the IRS says it will take 21 days or less to get your refund, which is compared to a four- to six-week turnaround when you file a paper refund,” Watts says.

That’s because when you mail a paper tax return, the IRS must enter all your information into the system manually, Watts explained, which only delays the speed of a refund.

Another advantage of e-filing is accuracy. The accuracy of e-filing comes from the tax software double-checking your math and scanning for various other human errors, such as an incorrect Social Security numbers, before you hit the submit button.

Federal e-filing is also free, making it foolish not to e-file, Miller says.

“The other thing about electronic filing is that you get an acknowledgement from IRS that the return was received, so you know it got there,” Miller says.