There are just over two weeks left before Iowa tax returns are due. Iowa Department of Revenue spokesman, Roger Stirler, says a majority of of Iowans have already filed. He says they’ve had around one million returns filed thus far and they expect 400,000 to 500,000 more.
Stirler says fewer people filing paper returns this year. At the end of the season last year they had about 78% of the returns filed electronically, while they are anticipating around 81% will be filed electronically this year. He says they were a little surprised by the increase.
He says it’s a much larger growth in electronic filing that what they anticipated, but he says some changes by the federal government — such as requiring tax preparers to file all returns electronically — help push the numbers up. One thing that hasn’t change is the amount of the average refund.
Stirler says the average refund this year is $470, about the same as last year. Stirler says the normal state filing deadline is April 30th, but that’s a Saturday this year, so the deadline was moved to Monday May 2nd.