E-file Your Taxes & Get Your Tax Refund Faster

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Say Good-Bye to the Old Way of Doing Your Taxes

Estimating when you’ll get your IRS refund is much more straight-forward

In a fast-paced world as technologically-advanced as ours, manually filing your taxes can feel like using a fax machine verses sending an email. While some people still opt for the manual route, there are countless benefits to e-filing your tax returns.

Most of the time, e-filing means you get your tax refund faster than filing a paper return mostly because you don’t have to wait for the IRS to receive your paper return. Instead, your return reaches the IRS almost as soon as you approve us to transmit it. Also, if you choose direct deposit, you’ll get paid sooner. Typically, the IRS will confirm that they have received an e-filed tax return within 48 hours.

Infographic on Mailing Versus E-filing

Infographic on Mailing vs. E-filing

If for some reason your return is rejected, you’ll be notified more quickly so you can fix the mistakes and re-transmit your corrected return.

The Reasons Why E-filing is Faster, Easier and Better When Filing Your Taxes

Accuracy

Manually filling out tax paperwork can increase the chance for errors. Having an error or miscalculation on your tax return can increase the wait time for your refund or cause an audit of your paperwork. E-filing walks you through the process and does the calculations for you.

Convenience

Whether you use an online tax preparation service (compare popular services here) or use the IRS filing program, e-filing is the more convenient option. Instead of tackling mountains of paperwork, e-filing offers easy, step-by-step instructions and prompts.

Safe & Secure

Any data you submit to a reputable, IRS-certified site is protected from identity theft and other potential security breaches. The IRS has safely and securely processed more than 1.3 billion e-filed tax returns.

Faster Refund

In most cases, e-filing your tax return will get your tax refund faster. Combining your e-filed return with direct deposit into your bank account will speed up the process even more. The IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days.

Flexibility

When you e-file taxes, you can pay your tax bill directly from your bank account, alleviating the hassle of mailing a check or a money order. In other words, you are free to choose the payment option that is best for you.

FAQs About E-filing Tax Returns

What is e-file?

Filing federal and most state tax returns electronically through online tax preparation software.

Is there a charge to e-file?

Depending on the version of our software you use, there may be a fee. For those who qualify to use our basic software, E-file.com provides fast filing of your federal taxes—for free.

Do taxpayers need to submit Forms W-2, W-2G, W-2GU and Form 1099-R to the IRS?

No, however, taxpayers should keep records of these attachments with a copy of their tax return.

Is there a greater chance that e-filed tax returns will be audited?

No, there is no greater chance of being audited if taxpayers e-file taxes.

5 Tips for An E-file Newbie

Organize

Organize your records before you begin. You'll need your current year tax documents as well as last year's tax return.

Sign

Make sure to electronically sign your e-filed tax return by entering last year’s adjusted gross income or a 5-digit pin that you create.

Pay

With E-file.com, you can pay your tax bill directly from your bank account alleviating the hassle of mailing a check or a money order.

Log Out

If you use a public computer or friend’s computer, make sure you log out from the program and clear out the Web browser cache.

Stay Safe

If you receive an email that claims to be from the IRS, do not interact with it. The IRS will not contact you via email.

Why Use E-file.com?

Save time by filing in minutes

Many tax filers use our online software to electronically file their tax return in less than 15 minutes—even first timers!

Get qualified tax help right away

E-file's online tax software is designed to take the guesswork out of filing taxes. Should a question arise, there’s no need to suffer through long hold times with the IRS customer service—we’re ready to help the moment you need it.

Get your refund fast

At E-file, we get your IRS tax refund to you as fast as possible. Filing electronically with the IRS and selecting to have your refund direct deposited to your bank is the best route to a fast tax refund. Why wait any longer than necessary?

Q&A: How long does it take for a tax return to be accepted and refund processed?

After you file your tax return electronically, you may receive a notification that it is "pending". This is a temporary status that is often sent when e-filing a return and waiting for an "accepted" or "rejected" notification. Typically, the acceptance/rejected notice is sent in no more than 48 hours after receiving the return.

Once the return is accepted, you need to wait for the tax refund to be processed. This can take place in as little as 21 calendar days after e-filing, and sometimes even faster. For paper returns, you may have to wait six to eight weeks for any refund to be processed.

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