In the early 1980’s, tax practitioners were starting to use computers to prepare clients taxes, however, the IRS still forced them to print and mail returns because of the processing system. Then in 1986, a pilot program was launched to test the cost and benefits of EFS, or an Electronic Filing System, and it’s led to a permanent change in the way Americans file their taxes. Colleen Williams at Van Maanen, Siestra and Meyer says that in the last five to ten years, nearly everyone filing taxes has converted to E-Filing, and nationally more than 100 million returns are submitted online each year. Local Post Offices say the EFS has dramatically reduced their workload on April 15th, reducing the amount of mail by nearly 90% on Tax Day.