Tax filing via 'snail mail' waning

If you're waiting until the last minute – that would be Midnight on Tuesday - to mail out your federal income tax returns, you're in a shrinking number.

E-filing seems to be the way to go, especially in Georgia.

The state is ranked third nationwide for the most electronic tax filers, behind California and Florida, according to the IRS on Monday.

So those who get a rush from waiting in long lines at the post office to get that April 15, 11:59 p.m., post mark, might not have as much of an obstacle as in days past.

"It's not what it used to be given electronic filing," said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Mike Miles.

IRS spokesman Mark Green said tax officials anticipate between 85 percent and 90 percent of this year's filers will use some form of electronic filing as opposed to paper filing.

"It's a big savings," said Green, whose agency encourages E-filing. "It cost $3.50 (per return) for paper. E-filing is less than 15 cents."

State IRS officials anticipate only about 300,000 will file taxes through traditional methods, compared to nearly 500,000 in recent years.

And Georgians have broken a state record for electronic filings to date with more than 3.7 million returns filed electronically.

That's a huge increase from 25 years ago when E-filing was first available, and used by only about 300 people statewide, Green said.

"Each year, Georgians got a little more comfortable with E-filing," he said. "They saw how fast it was, and how secure it was. And they liked the convenience of doing it from comfort of the home."

Compared to a wait of four to six weeks, electronic filing, coupled with a refund that is directly deposited into a filer's designated bank account, typically takes half that time at the most.