News Release
April 5, 2004 - Columbus, Ohio -
OHIO PITCHES ‘ON-LINE’ FILING FOR FASTEST REFUNDS
Ohio I-File Delivering Quick Refunds and Tax Savings
Columbus -- (April 5, 2004) Ohio Tax
Commissioner Bill Wilkins today urged all those who still
haven’t filed their Ohio income tax returns to file
electronically to get tax refunds back fast—and save all Ohio
taxpayers millions of dollars.
“Electronic filing is the best way to go for the taxpayer,
and it is the best way to go for those who worry about how
tax dollars are spent,” Wilkins said. “Most people know about
TeleFile and e-file, but I want to remind everyone that they
can go on-line to the Department of Taxation web site and
file using Ohio I-File. It’s only the second year Ohio I-File
has been available, so a lot of people may not know about it.
It’s easy and it’s free.”
Generally, he said, benefits to the taxpayer of electronic
filing include:
--Direct deposit of a tax refund into a taxpayer’s bank
account within five to seven days of filing a return.
(Refunds from a paper return can take six to eight
weeks.)
--With Ohio I-File, most taxpayers take only ten minutes to
file a return.
--A return can be filed anytime with Ohio I-File, and the
taxpayer receives instant confirmation of the filing.
--Ohio I-File is free! Most electronic filing systems charge
a fee to file state taxes; with Ohio I-File there is no
charge.
--Tax due payments can be made on-line by credit card or
electronic check which allows taxpayers to choose a payment
date of any day up to and including April 15th.
--Ohio I-File minimizes errors.
Wilkins said Ohio I-File and other electronic filing options
deliver benefits to more than just the individual taxpayer.
“Everybody complains about taxes. Electronic filing is one
way they can do something about it. People who file their tax
returns electronically save Ohio millions of tax dollars,”
Wilkins said. “That’s because it costs us about $3 to process
a paper return compared to an average $1.15 to process one
electronically.”
Wilkins added, “When you process more than five million tax
returns every year the way we do, the savings with electronic
filing are huge.”
Last year, about 40 percent – more than 2.2 million – of all
returns coming into ODT were electronic. Only California had
more paperless returns. Ohio receives a total of about 5.6
million returns.
(For more information, contact Gary Gudmundson, director of
communications, Ohio Department of Taxation, at
614-644-6903.)