The Illinois Department of Revenue announced late last month it will start accepting and processing tax returns filed electronically.

Once federal tax returns have been completed, Illinois taxpayers have several options for filing their state returns. MyTax Illinois, the Illinois Department of Revenue’s online filing system, walks taxpayers through all of the options for credits and deductions. This option is free and available to almost every Illinois taxpayer. It can be found at tax.illinois.gov.

Taxpayers may also file electronically, either through paid tax preparers or software designed for 2013 tax year filings. Last year, 80 percent of taxpayers filed electronically and many received refunds through direct deposit in about a week. Taxpayers who would prefer to do so may download the forms they need, fill them out and mail them to the Department through the U.S. Postal Service.

Taxpayers who received a refund on Illinois taxes last year may log on to tax.illinois.gov to obtain an electronic copy of their 1099G, which shows the amount of last year’s tax refund that Illinois reports to the IRS.

This story is featured in the Feb. 12 edition of the Republic-Times newspaper.