WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service today announced the release of the 2009 IRS Data Book, an annual snapshot of agency activities for the fiscal year.

The report describes activities conducted by the IRS from Oct. 1, 2008, to Sept. 30, 2009, and includes information about returns filed, tax collections, enforcement and taxpayer assistance, as well as the IRS budget and workforce.

During fiscal year 2009, the IRS collected more than $1.9 trillion in taxes, net of refunds, and processed more than 236 million returns. Nearly 110 million returns, including 66 percent of individual income tax returns, were filed electronically. Nearly 124 million individual income tax return filers received a tax refund and/or economic stimulus payment during the fiscal year. Individual income tax refunds totaled $321.3 billion, and economic stimulus payments totaled over $11.5 billion. In fiscal year 2009, IRS spent an average of 50 cents to collect each $100 of tax revenue.

IRS examined more than 1.4 million individual income tax returns and about 28,000 returns filed by corporations, excluding S corporations. IRS personnel answered nearly 68 million toll-free calls from taxpayers during the fiscal year, and the IRS Web site received more than 296 million visits.

An electronic version of the 2009 IRS Data Book can be found on the Tax Stats.

Printed copies of the IRS Data Book, Publication 55B, will be available by mid-April from the U.S. Government Printing Office. To obtain a copy, write to the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. You may also order by calling (202) 512-1800 or faxing a request to (202) 512-2250.