New-York tribune., 1920-03-16
Taxpayers
Break Record
I'm Final Rush
More Than 100000 Returns
Handled i'm Manhattan OH
Last Day; Mail Receipts
Are Heaviest in History
L arge Sums Received
Payments Range From One
Cent to $8, 1000, 900; The
atrical Stars Stand i'm Line

John d. Rockefeller's secretary was
elbowed by man in, overalls in the
greatest rush the Office of the Collec-
tor of Internal Revenue ever has seen
yesterday afternoon when those who
had waited until the last day to file
their income tax returns at the Gus
tom House jostled about in the lobby
of the building waiting for their time
to hand in their payments.
Although at midnight William H.
Edwards, Collector of Internal Revenue.
said no figures were available as to
paid. it was the heaviest day of the
year, and that probably in Manhattan
alone more than 100000 separate e-
turns had been handled Last yeat he
said there were about 100000 returns
handled at his Office.
ihe increased number of returns"
Collector Edwards said, "can be ex-
planned by the fact that increased
wages and salaries this year cause
paying class. The actual cash received
this year may not equal last years
receipt because of the lower rate Of
taxation.'
City Postof1ices Crowded
The crush in the lobbies and Offices
adjacent to the revenue collectors Of
flee at the Custom House yesterday
was not confined there. In postoffices
throughout the city, and particularly
at the main Office in the Postoffice
Building, long lines of persons seeking
postoff1ce money orders were seen
throughout the day, growing to large
proportions at O'Clock and gradually
swelling until, at O'Clock, every
available clerk in the different post
Offices had been placed at work filling
in money order blanks. 1t was ap-
parent that the large amount of in
come taxes received at the Custom
House yesterday by mail would be
equaled if not surpassed to-day, when
the hundreds of letters containing
money orders and checks covering pay
ments of the tax are received.
The mail receipts at the Custom
House Yesterday we're the heaviest in
history. Two hundred clerks were kept
busy opening and sorting the maj and
arranging returns for the cashiers off,
ces. One clerk opened a letter con-
tanning a payment Of tax of one cent
by woman in Harlem, who had spent
IL cents registering the letter. The
same clerk a moment later opened a
letter containing 81 certified check for
S5,o0o,ooo, the payment of one-fourth
of the tax of one of the biggest cor
porations in the Wall Street district.
Biggest Payers Delay Returns
The largest taxpayers, waiting until
the last moment to make their returns,
owing to the huge amount they could
save in interest charges by each day,
delay, went to the Custom House al
most at the same time between noon
a ~ \
were Mr. Rockefeller's secretary and
representatives Of Henry P. Dawson,
Charles H. Sabin, Thomas w. Lamont
and others.
Broadway's brightest stars were
there, among them Nine. Luisa Tetraz-
zini and John Mccormack Motion
picture men inducer Nine. Tetrazzini to
pose with Collector Edwards. and she
smiled and kissed goodby to her hand
full of bills, adding: 81 wish my IN
come tax were larger. l love the
United States so much"
1t was estimated John Mccormack s
tax totaled more than S145O0O.
One payment made yesterday after
noon. it is understood, amounted to
$S000,000, which represented one
fourth Of the tota tax of the concern
which sent it. Another quarterly pay
ment was S4,OOO,0O0
The Federal Reserve Bank remained
open last night until midnight to re-
ceive the checks that continued to be
sent there from the Custom House.
B. M. Gardner, Collector of Internal
Revenue in Brooklyn, declared last
night he believed the amount received
there this year would exceed that of
last year by several millions, and that
the total tax would reach almost $780,
100000. Every available employee
there was at work all day yesterday re-
ceiving the tax~returns