The number of Canadians who have filed their income tax returns electronically is up almost 15% this year over last, says the Canada Revenue Agency.

But more and more Canadians appear to be doing it themselves rather than using services of a professional tax preparer.

CRA said Monday that to April 2, almost 4.9 million Canadians had filed electronically, up 14.9% over last year to April 4. All told, about nine million returns have been filed so far this year.

CRA said the number of returns filed using NETFILE, which requires a CRA-certified software or Web-based application, is up 23% this year over last year — 1.4 million vs 1.1 million. The number of those filing over the telephone using Telefile is also up, by 4.3% to 434,503.

Meanwhile, the number of returns filed via email using services of a professional tax preparer is up 12.4% over last year — three million vs 2.6 million.

“Of approximately 23 million Canadians who file an income tax return, more and more are discovering that electronic filing is the fastest and easiest way to prepare and file their returns,” CRA said in a release. “There are fewer errors and individuals get their tax refunds in as few as eight business days, or less with direct deposit.”