Brad and Susan Denney pushed Utah into a new era as filers of the millionth state income tax return in 2006.

It's the first time more than a million individual income tax returns were filed with the Utah State Tax Commission in a single year, and the commission on Tuesday marked the event with food and fun ... and a friendly reminder to Utahns about electronic filing.

"Reaching a million is a milestone," said Pam Hendrickson, chairwoman of the Utah State Tax Commission. "We'd been close to 980,000 (filings) for the past few years."

As of Aug. 31, the tax commission reported that 1,001,929 state income tax returns had been filed for the 2005 tax year, topping 998,591 for the previous year.

A number of factors helped push Utah over the million mark, Hendrickson said. In-migration brought more people into the state. Population growth from within meant more people are entering the labor force. And a healthy economy and low unemployment meant more people found work.

As that growth continues, Hendrickson said, the commission is continuing its campaign encouraging electronic tax return filing. For the 2005 tax year, the commission reported that the number of returns filed electronically topped the number of paper filings, 55.1 percent to 44.9 percent.

Filing electronically is "safer for the taxpayer, easier for them and us, and it's much more efficient," Hendrickson said. "And as we have more growth we need to start doing things smarter, and we can accommodate electronic filing growth."

The commission reiterated its focus on providing a safe network by which to file electronic returns.

"It has been our priority to ensure that all the protections are in place," Hendrickson said. And, compared to paper filing, she said, "I think it's probably safer in that fewer hands have to touch the return.

"In the mail, you have the possibility of it being lost between the mailbox and the post office and the building," she said. "And we don't have to microfiche it, or scan it. It isn't handled in the mail room. There are just fewer people handling it, which makes (electronic filing) that much safer and more efficient."

The Denneys, Sandy residents who filed their returns electronically on Aug. 23 after receiving an extension, received a replica Utah license plate inscribed with "1,000,000" at a ceremony Tuesday.

They also received cake and Utah-related memorabilia.

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com