Cross References
- IR-2013-32, March 25, 2013
- IRS Pub. 55B

The Internal Revenue Service has released the 2012 IRS Data Book, a snapshot of agency activities for the year.

The report describes activities conducted by the IRS from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012, and includes information about returns filed, taxes collected, enforcement, taxpayer assistance, and the IRS budget and workforce, among others.

During fiscal year 2012, the IRS collected almost $2.5 trillion in federal revenue and processed 237 million returns, of which almost 145 million were filed electronically. Out of the 146 million individual income tax returns filed, almost 81% were e-filed. More than 120 million individual income tax return filers received a tax refund, which totaled almost $322.7 billion. On average, the IRS spent 48¢ to collect $100 in tax revenue during the fiscal year, the lowest cost since 2008.

The IRS examined just under one percent of all tax returns filed and about one percent of all individual income tax returns during fiscal year 2012. Of the 1.5 million individual tax returns examined, nearly 54,000 resulted in additional refunds. The IRS provided taxpayer assistance through 372 million visits to IRS.gov and assisted almost 97 million taxpayers through its toll-free telephone helpline or at walk-in sites.

An electronic version of the 2012 IRS Data Book can be found on the IRS website at www.irs.gov.