Commissioner Foresees End to
Long Post Office Lines on Apr. 15

WASHINGTON - Long lines of taxpayers at post offices on April 15 may be a nightmare of the past, but they aren't part of the Internal Revenue Service's dream for the future.

"The growth of alternatives to the traditional paper return -- such as electronic filing, TeleFile and the 1040PC format -- points to a time when few people will be rushing to the post office to beat the midnight deadline," said IRS Commissioner Margaret Milner Richardson. "This year, nearly one-fourth of the taxpayers who had filed by early used one of these alternatives, and I expect this trend to continue."

The IRS expects to receive nearly 35 million returns this week and next from taxpayers who waited until the deadline's approach. Another 5 million people will request an extension of time to file until August 15.

As of April 8, the IRS had received over 68 million returns and processed nearly 48 million refunds, worth $49.1 billion. At $1,025, the average refund is up 5.4 percent over this time last year.

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