Hawai'i continues to lag the nation when it comes to filing taxes electronically, new Internal Revenue Service statistics show.

The IRS said about 48.5 percent of returns from Hawai'i were sent in electronically last year, or 336,438 of the 694,035 filed from the state.

That compared to the national average of about 58 percent.

The IRS wants usage of electronic filing to increase and said today it is expanding a program that enables taxpayers to file returns online at no charge.

Taxpayers who file electronically can receive refunds in as few as 10 days, compared to six to eight weeks for those filing paper returns, according to the IRS. The IRS e-file system becomes available Friday.

"Pretty much anybody at any income level can take advantage of these services," said David Williams, the IRS director of Electronic Tax Administration.

Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of $56,000 or less, or about 70 percent of all taxpayers, can use a Free File computer program that walks them through the filing process step by step, much like a tax preparer would, Williams said.

Taxpayers with higher incomes can fill out and file their tax forms online, just like they would on paper, he said.

Nearly 90 million taxpayers filed online last year, about 58 percent of all returns. The IRS Oversight Board, which oversees the IRS, has set a goal of having 80 percent of taxpayers file online by 2012.

The IRS e-file system can be found at www.irs.gov.