Once again, USPS will accommodate the parade of people pursuing a postmark proving punctual posting of their tax returns.

The Postal Service encourages everyone to file or mail their returns soon. All area Post Office retail windows will be open with regular customer service hours. We will not be staying open late.

However, if you absolutely must wait until the last minute, the following offices will accept prepaid, prestamped tax returns for postmarking only. Drop the mail in outside collection box before 12 midnight.

• Colorado Springs Briargate Station, 8585 Criterion Dr.
• Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain, 1540 S. 8th St.
• Colorado Springs Cimarron, 5925 E. Gallery Rd.
• Colorado Springs General Mail Facility, 3655 E. Fountain Blvd.
• Colorado Springs Templeton Station, 4356 Montebello Dr.

There will be no retail services, but the collection boxes outside the office and inside the lobby will be available for properly stamped envelopes.

Customers can call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) to find out the regular customer service hours of their local Post Office.

Tax Mailing tips:

• Apply the proper postage or stamps, especially if enclosing extra forms and schedules. Using a regular size Number 2 envelope, First Class postage costs 46 cents for the first ounce.
• For heavier envelopes, add extra stamps or postage amounting to 20 cents for each additional ounce.
• If you are not sure about the correct postage, it is best to add additional stamps, or take your forms to the Post Office to ensure that correct postage is applied.
• Make sure you print the proper IRS address on the front of the envelope. 
• Print your return address in the upper-left-hand corner of your tax mail envelope.
• Customers who wish certification that their tax mail form was sent, should send it Certified Mail
• Customers with IRS tax questions can contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040; or go to www.irs.gov

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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