Each year, the IRS processes hundreds of millions of tax returns from individuals and businesses across the United States. With filing requirements, deadlines, and documentation varying by situation, understanding your tax responsibilities is essential to staying compliant, avoiding errors, and preparing with confidence.
Tax Filing & Volume in the U.S.
Massive scale: In fiscal year 2024, the IRS processed more than 266 million tax returns and other forms across individuals, businesses, and tax-exempt organizations. During the same period, nearly $553 billion in refunds were issued to taxpayers nationwide.
Electronic adoption: Over 219.9 million individual and business returns were filed electronically—about 82.5 % of all filings—with 93.3 % of individual returns e-filed.
Professional preparation demand: IRS filing season reports show that tens of millions of returns get filed through tax professionals each year, indicating strong reliance on expert support. Mid-season 2025 data showed ~74.9 million returns e-filed by tax pros, versus ~64.6 million self-prepared filings.
Taxpayer Burden & Compliance Trends
Time & cost burden: Americans spend billions of hours and hundreds of billions in compliance costs preparing taxes. One analysis estimated taxpayers will spend an estimated 7.1 billion hours preparing their 2024 returns, representing roughly $316 billion in lost productivity. Added out-of-pocket costs (software, advisors) push total tax compliance burden toward $464 billion nationwide.
Audit reality: Audit rates for individual returns are low. Recent IRS data suggests less than 1 % of individual tax returns are audited in a typical year, and this rate has dropped substantially over the past decade due to IRS staffing changes.
“Each year, millions of Americans file taxes without fully understanding their obligations. Clear guidance isn’t a luxury—it’s essential for accuracy, compliance, and peace of mind.”
Business Tax Context
Business filing volume: In 2024 alone, there were millions of business tax returns filed — including over 6 million S corporation returns, 5 million partnership returns, and 2.2 million C corporation income tax returns — illustrating how many companies navigate business tax obligations each year.
Payroll & employment filings: Employment tax returns (Forms 940, 941, etc.) totaled over 33 million filings in 2024, underscoring the ongoing payroll compliance workload for businesses of all sizes.
Filing Trends & Season Behavior
Filing season momentum: IRS filing season data shows steady increases in total returns received year over year, with total returns received rising by about 1.4 % from 2024 to 2025. This signals ongoing growth in filing activity.
Professional vs. Self-Prepared: Filings through tax pros grew slightly faster than self-prepared filings, reflecting continued demand for expert assistance over doing taxes alone.
