Hartford, CT  — The Hartford Post Office, located at 141 Weston Street, will be open until 8 p.m. on tax night, April 15th. Other Post Offices in the area will be open their normal operating hours which can be found by visiting www.usps.com and clicking on Find Locations. From there, you can click on the drop down menu for Post Offices and Approved Postal Providers to find Post Offices, collection boxes, stamps and more.

Customers may also call 1-800-ASK-USPS to determine the closing time of the Post Office near them.

Some Post Offices also have Self Service Kiosks (SSKs) in their lobbies that are accessible 24 hours per day.  You can do almost any postal transaction at an SSK except purchase money orders. The user friendly kiosk is operated by a touch screen similar to an ATM at the bank and is available in English or Spanish. IRS does not accept a SSK receipt as proof of mail though. If you want a receipt to prove when you mailed your tax return you should bring it to a Post Office.

Here are a few helpful tax mailing tips:

• Taxpayers can avoid the annual last-minute rush to the post office simply by mailing the tax return in a local mailbox. However, customers need to look at the final pick-up times posted on the mailbox to ensure mail has not already been collected.
• Customers who hand-address tax return envelopes should be sure to write or print neatly, double check the mailing address, and include a return address.
• Want to make sure your return gets to the IRS fast? Use Priority Mail Express. Priority Mail Express also insures your documents and provides a receipt for mailing and delivery.
• If a tax return feels heavier than one ounce, it’s a good idea to weigh it because the IRS will not pay additional postage and will penalize for late payment.  Also, stamped tax returns weighing 13 ounces or more must be mailed at a post office or sent using a credit card to pay for postage.
• Consider mailing your tax return by Certified Mail if you want a receipt to prove it was sent on time or Registered Mail if you have original receipts enclosed.
• Priority Mail with Tracking service can be used to mail your tax return to the IRS. The postmark on the package will be accepted by the IRS to validate timely filing and the receipt provides tracking information for your mail piece.

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