The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) today announced that the agency will no longer directly mail tax booklets to individual taxpayers. This change was made due to the continued growth of electronic income tax filing, and to reduce mailing and printing costs for the agency. The IRS and several other states have recently made similar decisions.
Taxpayers that still need a booklet will be able to obtain one from their local library, post office, or town hall shortly after the beginning of the new year, or they may download forms and instructions from the DRS website at www.ct.gov/DRS.
Last filing season, 1.6 million personal income tax returns were filed with DRS DRS estimates that of the 1.6 million, approximately 125,000 returns, or 8%, were attributable to mailed books.
Electronic filing of income tax returns has grown rapidly during the past few years. Last year, more than 1.2 million tax returns were filed electronically.
In addition to downloading paper forms at www.ct.gov/DRS, taxpayers can learn about locations where tax booklets will be available, electronic filing through the state’s free Taxpayer Service Center, and other electronic filing methods like Fed/State e-file and tax preparation software. The site also offers information about the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for low income individuals and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program.