Only 20% of Canadians are still filing their taxes the old fashioned way, on paper, according to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The CRA says that, as of July 2, 80% of Canadians, or more than 21 million taxpayers, are now filing their taxes electronically. This is up by six percentage points from last year. For the latest filing period, 26% used the CRA’s NETFILE service, and another 54% used the EFILE option, it reports.
Additionally, 54% of taxpayers also received their refund by direct deposit this year, the CRA says. “By filing online and using direct deposit, taxpayers were able to receive their refund in as little as eight days,” noted Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Minister of National Revenue.
The agency also reports that the average tax refund was also up slightly for the 2013 taxation year. It came in at $1,655, up from $1,646 in the 2012 tax year.