Canada Revenue

Won’t be mass-mailing its tax forms anymore.

If you’re counting on the mailman to bring you a federal income-tax return this year, you’ll be waiting long past the tax-filing deadline.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has discontinued mass mailing of per- sonalized income-tax packages.

If you want to get a printed copy of the guide and T1 return, you’ll have to go to a post office or Service Canada outlet to get it starting next month, print it yourself off the CRA website (where it’s already posted), or order a copy from CRA by Internet or (starting in February) by telephone.

CRA said it “refines its business processes on an ongoing basis to make sure it uses its resources responsibly and remains efficient,” and emphasizing online service reflects a commitment to responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

More than one million printed packages for individuals went unused last year, and it costs four times more to process a paper return than an electronic one, CRA said.

Revenue Québec, for its part, said citizens who filed their provincial returns on paper in 2011 will be receiving printed tax packages by mail, as usual, this year.

They accounted for 40 per cent of tax filers in 2011, a spokesman said. The rest filed electronically.

Federally, about two-thirds of Canadians now file online.

As part of its attempt to boost that percentage further, CRA has instituted another change this year, discontinuing the free Telefile service that allowed people with basic returns to file by entering their tax information using the telephone.