What Tax Day In Boston Looked Like At 11 p.m.: Photo Of The Week

BOSTON, MA — Summer Street just before 11 p.m. on April 17 looked more like rush hour as hundreds of people raced to get their paperwork into the Post Office before the midnight deadline.

Even though the IRS estimates that some 90 percent of income taxes are filed electronically in the US, there's still a mad rush to the Post office at the 11th hour each year as those who file the actual paper work try to get it post marked in time.

Police detail officers directed traffic onto Dorchester Ave. And once the procrastinator got into the actual Post office, one Patch reader described the experience as "ordered chaos."

For those who pre-stamped their mail, it was a quick walk in walk out. For those who still needed to buy stamps, the line was more like 15 to 20 minutes, Patch readers said.

Fun facts from Wallet Hub: Some 70 percent of people who file will get a Federal Tax refund. Americans spend about 8.1 billion hours prepping their taxes each year. And 1.1 million people get audited each year.

And if that didn't make you sigh: April 19 is Tax Freedom Day. Sounds good? Wellll: This is the first day of the year in which the country has theoretically earned enough income to pay its taxes.

According to the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income. In 2018, Americans will pay $3.39 trillion in federal taxes and $1.80 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $5.19 trillion, or 30 percent of national income. This year, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 19th, 109 days into 2018. Broken out by state, Massachusetts' Tax Freedom Day would be April 26, according to the American Accounting and Tax company.

Got a photo that shows your Tax Day in a nutshell? Or a photo that sums up the week?

Email it to jenna.fisher@Patch.com and we'll highlight it.

Be sure to include a little bit about the photo what happened and who took it.

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-The line at the main Boston Post Office. Photo Credit: Maz