REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Traffic numbers for tax-related sites soared as taxpayers prepared and filed their 2003 taxes. Additionally, electronic filing increased by 12 points to 43%, according to independent research conducted by the Claria Corp. in conjunction with its Feedback Research division.Claria measured online user behavior of tax category Web sites and conducted a survey to their users regarding online and offline activity for the 2003 tax season. Of Claria's over 43 million active users, 2.8 million viewed tax-related Web sites between Feb. 10 and April 3 to prepare, gather information or file their taxes online. IRS.gov was the most popular Web site, with 1.3 million Claria viewers in the weeks leading up to the tax day deadline.Among the survey findings:77% of taxpayers filed their taxes either online or offline by March 25 Only 6% of taxpayers will wait until or after April 15 to file their taxes 61% of respondents who prepare their own taxes used or will use tax software to prepare their taxes this year (up 4 points over the 2002 tax season) 68% of respondents who used or will use tax software to prepare their taxes this year had used or were planning to use TurboTax software to file their taxes (up 2 points over last year) 48% of respondents who prepare their own taxes used or will use online tax preparation sites to prepare their taxes this year, up 15 points 51% of those who used or will use online tax preparation sites indicated that they would useTurboTax for the Web to prepare their taxes online 21% of tax preparation software users will use it for the first time, while 59% have used it for three years or more 35% of tax preparation site users will use them for the first time 63% of all respondents have viewed or plan on viewing the IRS.gov site 90% of respondents are aware of online filing as an option, up 8 points 81% of respondents plan to receive a tax refund this year 36% will use the refund to pay credit card or other bills 26% plan to save the refund Founded in 1998, Claria Corp. is a provider of online behavioral marketing. The company has U.S. offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Detroit and Austin, and International offices in the United Kingdom and Asia.Visit Claria Corp.: www.claria.com"