The Internal Revenue Service released a Data Book Thursday highlighting the IRS’s activities this past fiscal year, particularly in response to the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS developed new technology and furnished the equipment needed to allow thousands of its staff to work from home, enabling the IRS to resume processing returns and providing phone assistance to taxpayers. The IRS processed more than 240 million tax returns, and collected nearly $3.5 trillion in federal taxes during the fiscal year, approximately 96% of federal revenue from all sources. The IRS needed to contend with numerous challenges during the pandemic, including a newly remote workforce and distributing millions multiple rounds of stimulus payments to aid the economy. In the first round, under the CARES Act, the IRS issued 161.9 million Economic Impact Payments, 122.5 million by direct deposit, 35.8 million by check, and nearly 3.6 million by debit card. Under the COVID-Related Tax Relief Act of 2020, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the IRS issued 146.5 million second-round EIPs, including 112.8 million via direct deposit, 25.7 million by check, and 8 million by debit card. Combined, the IRS provided $412.9 billion in relief under these programs during calendar year 2020. It later distributed another round this year under the American Rescue Plan Act.