The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index survey shows that the overall taxpayer satisfaction score for the Internal Revenue Service's e-filing service increased to 75 (on a scale of 0 - 100) in 2000, from 74 in 1999. This compares with a score of just 51 for the filing of paper tax returns. It is also well above the average score of 68.6 for government services. Additionally, 81 percent of the respondents say they intend to file again electronically.

The survey findings support the IRS's own theory about electronic filing - that taxpayers who try it really like it.

Tax preparers will not be surprised to learn that the report concludes that customer satisfaction with paper filing is affected most by circumstances beyond IRS control, such as the complexity of the tax code.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey (ACSI) is a uniform cross industry measure of the quality of goods and services available in the United States since 1994. The index is produced through a partnership among the University of Michigan Business School, the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and Arthur Andersen.