BOSTON -- There are just a few hours left until this year's tax deadline, and for those who have waited until the last minute to file their returns, there may be fewer options for getting them in.

Only one post office in all of Massachusetts will be open until midnight for late filers. The Fort Point post office in Dorchester near South Station will stay open, but that will be the only one open with extended hours. It's normally open 24 hours a day.

The U.S. Postal Service said it doesn't make sense to keep more post offices open longer when so many people are now filing taxes electronically. The IRS said that 80 million taxpayers filed online in 2007. That was 11 million more than in 2006.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that some local businesses are trying to make tax day a little easier. Dunkin' Donuts will offer a free doughnut for people buying a cup of coffee on Tax Day and Staples said it will copy up to 20 pages of tax returns for free. The Chipotle Mexican Grill said if customers show proof they bought a burrito on Tax Day they'll get a free one the following day.

IRS figures showed that all taxpayers, from those using the simplest 1040-EZ form to those using longer forms, spent 26.5 hours in record keeping, studying the law, and preparing and sending their forms for the 2006 tax year. That was up from 25.4 hours three years earlier.

The average out-of-pocket cost, including for those taxpayers doing their own taxes, was $207, up from $185 three years earlier. The self-employed taxpayer paid an average $444 to put his taxes together.

That takes a chunk out of the refunds most taxpayers receive. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress last week that as of March 29 it had issued about 70 million refunds, with the average refund worth $2,467. The tax agency expects to process nearly 140 million individual returns this year.

Tax law keeps getting more complex. The instruction book for Form 1040 has grown from four pages in 1945 to 117 pages in 2000 and 155 pages last year. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation's general explanation of tax legislation enacted in the 2006-2007 session of Congress ran to 841 pages, up from 593 pages for the previous Congress.

The IRS also was forced to be as efficient as possible this year because it was tasked with paying checks owed Americans as part of the economic stimulus package passed in January. People should start receiving those payments, of up to $600 and $1,200 respectively for individuals and couples with another $300 per child, early next month.