Business tax return e-filing rose nearly 10 percent this year, continuing the growth that has seen the number of corporate and partnership returns filed electronically double in just four years, the Internal Revenue Service says in a news release issued earlier this month. An additional 600,000 corporations and partnerships e-filed their tax returns this year, the federal agency says.

As of Sept. 21, more than 7 million corporations and partnerships e-filed, an increase of almost 10 percent over the prior year’s total, and twice the nearly 3.5 million returns e-filed during the 2010 fiscal year, the IRS says.

About 70 percent of all corporate and partnership returns have been e-filed during 2014, it says. Many corporations and partnerships operating on a calendar year receive filing extensions. The extended due date is usually Sept. 15.

Large and mid-size corporations, generally those with $10 million or more in total assets, are required to electronically file their Forms 1120 or 1120S. Partnerships with more than 100 partners (Schedules K-1) also are required to e-file their tax returns. The IRS says it’s seeing growth in e-filing by these businesses and by businesses not required to e-file.

This year, 92,494 large corporations e-filed their returns, an increase of 8.6 percent compared to the same time last year, the IRS says. Counting corporations of about sizes, 4,093,075 of them filed their returns electronically, up 9.1 percent from last year.

The greatest rate of growth in e-filing among these businesses is by large partnerships. This year, 122,879 large partnerships e-filed, up more than 14 percent from the same time the year before.

In all, 2,495,905 partnerships filed their returns electronically, up 10.7 percent from last year.

Separately, the IRS says it is briefly delaying the realignment of tax compliance organizations serving individual and small-business taxpayers to Nov. 3, from Oct. 20, to allow additional time to review and discuss changes.

The agency says realigning core business operations in its Wage and Investment and Small Business/Self-Employed divisions is expected to make processes more efficient. In addition, it says, the realignment will reduce redundancies and help it improve its ability to identify emerging compliance issues. This change will be seamless for taxpayers and tax professionals, it says.

Currently, IRS examination and collection activities for individuals and small businesses overlap between the Wage and Investment division and the Small Business/Self-Employed division. It says the concept being reviewed would realign compliance-related operations to avoid organizational duplications, find operational efficiencies and help more quickly identify emerging compliance risks.

For taxpayers and tax professionals, the goal is improved customer service and easier contact for handling their issues. In an effort to get the best plan possible, the IRS says it also has engaged its front-line employees and managers to help refine the plan.