If you are still sharpening your pencil to work on federal or state taxes, your local Post Office is ready to help you meet that all important April 15th deadline.

Connecticut customers also will find extended hours in the Main Post Offices in Stamford (Camp Street) until 6:30 PM, Hartford (141 Weston Street) until 9 PM, New Haven (50 Brewery Street) until 8 PM, and at the Bradley Airmail Facility (10 Schoephoester Road, Windsor Locks) until 10 pm.  No offices in Western Massachusetts will extend hours this year.

There are 23 self-service Automated Postal Centers (APCs) in the Connecticut Valley District of the Postal Service, available 24 hours each day.  That includes Tax Day.

In Western Massachusetts, APCs are located in:

• AMHERST
• EAST LONGMEADOW
• NORTHAMPTON
• PITTSFIELD

In Connecticut, APCs are located in:

• BRIDGEPORT (Trumbull Station)
• DANBURY
• ENFIELD
• FAIRFIELD
• GLASTONBURY
• GREENWICH area:  (2 units:  Greenwich Avenue Station and the Greenwich Postal Store)
• HAMDEN
• HARTFORD
• MANCHESTER
• MILFORD
• NEW CANAAN
• NEW HAVEN (Main Post Office)
• NEWINGTON ­
• SOUTHBURY
• STAMFORD (Camp Avenue Station)
• STRATFORD
• WEST HARTFORD (LaSalle Road)
• WILTON

Customers can weigh and mail letters and parcels and purchase stamps at the touch of a screen, using debit and credit cards.

Mail placed in a collection box must be deposited before the last collection time at the post office, APC or collection box to receive that date’s postmark.   This includes Tax Night, postal officials note.

A couple answers from the Postmaster….

I’m done with my taxes!  Now, how can I mail them? 

The IRS recognizes the First-Class Mail letter postmark as proof that a return has been mailed on time. Other approved mailing options include Express or Priority Mail.

Confirm the address for your taxes, postal officials say.  Documents headed to a post office box can only be sent using US Mail.  Use the printed labels provided with your tax forms when provided.

This feels a little heavy.  It still goes to the IRS, right?

Be sure to use the proper postage— tax returns bearing insufficient postage will be returned.  The Postal Service website, www.usps.com, offers a Rate Calculator to help you determine the right postage for your documents.

How can I be sure my tax form gets there?

The Postal Service provides several services to help document your tax mailings, such as:

Certificate of Mailing Service

You will get a receipt as evidence that you mailed your tax return.

Certified Mail Service
A Certified Mail receipt proves you mailed your tax return and gives you online access to verify the date and time of delivery.

Return Receipt
This receipt verifies both mailing and delivery, returning a postcard to you signed by the person who received your package.

In addition, Delivery Confirmation service will verify the time, date, and ZIP Code to which your return is delivered. This information is accessible with Track & Confirm at www.usps.com.

How late is my Post Office open?

Every day, more than 1.2 million Americans visit www.usps.com for information such as listing the operating hours of the Post Office found in the Post Office Locator feature.  Directions, nearby offices and changes such as extended hours for Tax Night are included.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.