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Governor Encourages Illinoisans to Go Green, File Taxes Electronically

Saves paper, increases processing efficiencies.

In the final weeks of tax season, Illinois Gov. Blagojevich encouraged Illinois taxpayers to Go Green and file their taxes electronically. When taxpayers file their taxes electronically, said the Governor's Office in a release, the Department of Revenue sees a reduction in paper use throughout the tax process; from the printing of fewer tax booklets to receiving fewer forms in the mail from taxpayers. By saving paper, taxpayers help reduce the amount of trash going into landfills, and also reduce energy use and pollution associated with manufacturing, transporting and recycling new paper products.

To help illustrate this point, if the 2.7 million electronic IL-1040s that the department received last year were paper IL-1040s stacked one on top of each other, they would reach a height of over 369 feet or ¼ of the height of the Empire State Building. Additionally, if these electronic IL-1040s were paper IL-1040s and put end to end they would start at Springfield, Illinois and end up just outside of San Diego, California.

"Most Illinoisans aren't necessarily thinking about the environment when they file their taxes," said Blagojevich. "Every year more Illinoisans file electronically because it is faster and easier. But today we encourage Illinoisans, as they consider their deductions, to Go Green and file electronically."

In Springfield, Department of Revenue Director Hamer took reporters on a tour of the Willard Ice Building to illustrate how much paper was saved when Illinois taxpayers chose e-filing. Director Hamer highlighted the Department's paper and mail handling operations which takes in millions of tax forms each year. The Department also sent out about 1.9 million tax booklets to Illinoisans this year, down from past years because more and more filers are filing electronically.

The Illinois Department of Revenue projects that for the first time ever, more filers will chose to file electronically than file by paper. In addition to making the filing process faster and more convenient for taxpayers, the E-filing option provides a significant cost savings to the state. Since the beginning of the 2008 tax season, electronic filers have saved the state $2.4 million in paper processing costs and postage.

The Department of Revenue has also made strides in electronic filing methods offered to business, which are on track to increase electronic filing by 55.4 percent or around 550,000 returns. Electronic filing programs offered by the department are on target to receive a combined total of 4.8 million returns and applications this fiscal year. Beginning in fiscal year 2008, electronic filing offerings were expanded to include additional excise tax applications.