IRS says it will deliver faster refunds to millions of taxpayers in coming years. Here's how.

Millions of Americans could receive their tax refunds more quickly in coming years as the Internal Revenue Service brings its technology further into the 21st century.

The IRS is launching a major effort to digitize all paper-filed tax returns by 2025, which is expected to cut processing times in half and speed up refunds by four weeks, the agency said Wednesday. Also, taxpayers will be able to submit more correspondence online during the coming filing period.

The two-pronged effort, dubbed the "Paperless Processing Initiative," aims to cut down on the millions of paper documents the IRS receives annually. It comes a year after Democrats in Congress provided the agency with a massive funding boost.

Although the vast majority of taxpayers file their returns electronically, millions still send in paper returns. Also, people remain hampered by the agency's inability to provide many forms online, and the IRS continues to be burdened by its inability to digitally process the paper tax returns it receives.

That is about to change. By next year's filing season, taxpayers will be able to digitally file all correspondence, non-tax forms and responses to notices. This will enable up to 125 million paper documents to be sent in online every year, the agency said.

At least 20 of the most used non-tax forms - including a request for Taxpayer Advocate Service assistance - will be available in digital, mobile-friendly formats to make them easier to submit.

Taxpayers use non-tax forms to ask for or submit information on topics such as identity theft and verification that they are eligible for certain credits and deductions available to low-income Americans.