Big thanks to CPA Trendlines, a research company that recently provided us with some great statistics for this tax season. Here are a few highlights from the CPA Trendlines report:

-- Fewer tax returns filed overall this year, the result of our unemployment problem (many people who were working before didn't work in 2010, thus no need to file income tax).

-- Number of taxpayers choosing to electronically file their tax return rather than file by mail up another 6.3 percent this year. No doubt this increase in e-filing is partly due to the new requirement by IRS that tax professionals who file more than 100 returns per year do all electronic filing unless there is reasonable cause not to for a particular taxpayer. More e-filing is good news for the environment! Less dead trees (though still far too many).

-- Number of self-prepared tax returns up by 8.9 percent. People be loving the TurboTax, there is no denying it. As we've noted before in this space, tax professionals better MAKE SURE that they are providing value to each and every client or else that client WILL choose the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) route. And this increased self-preparation trend despite the fact that reports suggest that the average time spent on self-preparing a tax return was 21 hours (one of the more outrageous stats we've heard in a while).

-- Also despite the self-preparation trend, tax professionals are keeping plenty busy. The number of taxpayers choosing to use a tax preparer for 2010 tax preparation was up 4.8 percent versus tax year 2009. With 12 days left to go in tax season, more than 40 million people have chosen to use a tax pro rather than DIY it.

-- Average refund for tax year 2010 down 0.6 percent from $3,004 to $2,985.

Thanks again to CPA Trendlines for giving us this great report. It is always interesting to see some numbers on what is going on with tax season.

We hope this info helps YOU make a great decision about how to manage your own tax situation.