Twice as many taxpayers have electronically filed tax returns than they did themselves so far this year compared with 1999, a factor in the overall 10 percent e-filing increase reported Thursday by the Internal Revenue Service.

Through Feb. 11, 1.2 million taxpayers had done their own tax returns -- usually with tax preparation computer software or an Internet-based service -- and zapped them via the World Wide Web to the IRS. That's already half the 1999 total and a 98 percent increase from the same period last year.

Counting professional tax preparers and simple returns filed by telephone, the IRS received 14.7 million tax returns electronically through Feb. 11, up 10.2 percent from 13.3 million during the same span a year ago.