Islandia, NY — The Postal Service offers services for last minute taxpayers in the Long Island District. Retail services, stamp sales and postmarking will be available until 11:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at the Hicksville Post Office, 185 West John St.

The following Post Offices have 24-hour access to Automated Postal Centers (APC). The APC enables customers to conduct business at their convenience: Bellmore, Bethpage, Central Islip, Commack, Deer Park, East Meadow, East Northport, Garden City, Hicksville, Huntington, Huntington Station, Levittown, Lindenhurst, Massapequa, Mineola, North Babylon, North Massapequa, Plainview, Port Jefferson Station, Rockville Centre, Ronkonkoma, Smithtown, Syosset, Valley Stream and Western Nassau Mail Facility window services located in Garden City.

The James A Farley Main Post Office at 421 Eight Avenue, New York City, NY across the street from Madison Square Garden, will be open until midnight on April 15.

The following Post Offices have extended window hours until 7 p.m., Monday to Friday including April 15 and until 4 p.m. on Saturday:

The Hicksville Post Office window is open Mon. to Fri.- 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m, Sat. - 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Postal Store at Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City, is open seven days a week: Mon. to Fri. - 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sat. - 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Sun. - Noon to 4:30 p.m.

The Postal Service suggests the following tax mailing tips:

• Make sure you have proper postage, especially if you have extra forms or schedules. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not accept tax filings without postage or with insufficient postage. The IRS returns all tax filings with insufficient postage to the sender, who is then charged with late-payment penalties. It costs 42-cents for a one ounce letter and 17-cents for each additional ounce. One ounce is about four pages.
• If you use a non-IRS labeled envelope, make sure you have the proper IRS address. Also, put your return address in the upper left-hand corner.
• Mail early in the day if you can, so you can save yourself a trip to the late collection locations and avoid traffic and the last-minute rush.
• Don’t use an office postage meter. The IRS doesn’t accept private postmarks as proof of timely filing.
• If you are depositing a tax return on April 15th in a blue Post Office collection box, be sure to mail it before the latest collection time posted on the box.
• The Postal Service recommends getting the security of proof-of-mailing and proof-of-delivery of your tax returns — use certified mail service ($2.70) with a return receipt ($2.20), plus the applicable postage.
• Tax forms are no longer available at Post Offices. Check at local libraries or online at http://www.irs.gov/ (Federal forms) or http://www.tax.state.ny.us/forms/ (NYS forms).
• Stamped packages weighing more than 13 ounces must be presented in person to a Post Office clerk to comply with FAA regulations.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.