Rantin | Electronic filing helps ease rush at tax time

A strange but inviting calm invaded the makeshift drive-through Tuesday at the Department of Revenue.

As in years past, agency workers lined the sidewalks outside the Columbia office to hand out tax forms and collect completed returns from last-minute filers looking to beat the midnight deadline.

But the number of people taking advantage of the service was down considerably this year, a trend revenue officials attribute to an increase in early-bird and electronic filing.

About 350 taxpayers took advance of the drive-through option Tuesday. That’s about half as many as last year and less than a third of those who had used the service in previous years.

“We’ve been constantly seeing an increase in electronic filing,” said Lauranne Mays of the Department of Revenue’s tax resolution and services division.

Revenue officials said about 1.2 million of the 1.7 million state returns received through Monday were processed electronically, a 13 percent increase compared with the same time last year.

To date, about 145,000 more people had filed electronically this year than last year, bringing the total to 79 percent. Officials expect that percentage to drop somewhat as paper returns — which usually account for the bulk of last-minute filers — continue to come in.

More people also have been filing earlier this year. The Department of Revenue said it crossed the 1 million mark for electronic filers March 24, the earliest date ever.

But officials have their suspicions about why so many more have been getting ahead of the game.

“Some people have filed early because of the stimulus checks,” Mays said.

The U.S. Treasury will begin sending out economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million individuals next month. But the only way to get one is by filing a federal tax return for 2007.

Those who had their federal tax refunds deposited directly into their accounts will receive their stimulus payments beginning in May. Those who opted for a check will begin receiving stimulus payments by mail at the end of May and running through the summer.

But even with all the incentives to file on time this year, some taxpayers were still picking up forms Tuesday at the Department of Revenue.

Columbia’s Cheryl Jones was among them.

Jones, who recently moved to the state from Arizona, completed her federal return a few weeks ago but wasn’t able to pick up a South Carolina form until Tuesday. So she knew how she would be spending the rest of her day.

“I’ll have to use it to see if I owe anything. Hopefully, I won’t. It shouldn’t take too long, but I have to do it.”