To assist last-minute tax filers on Wednesday, April 15 – the federal and state deadline for filing income tax returns – the U.S. Postal Service will offer pickup of mail deposited in the blue collection boxes in front of the Portland Main Post Office, 715 NW Hoyt St.; the Salem Main Post Office, 1050 25th St. SE; and the Eugene/Springfield Gateway Station, 3148 Gateway St. in Springfield, until midnight.

Customers using the Postal Service’s blue collection boxes elsewhere in the Oregon and in Southwest Washington are urged to double-check the label on the blue box to ensure they deposit their envelopes prior to the last posted collection time.

The USPS advises customers to avoid last-minute crowds and mail tax returns before April 15th, or at least early that day. All Post Offices in the Portland metro area and statewide will be open regular retail business hours on April 15th. Portland’s Main Post Office and the Gateway Station in Springfield are both open weeknights until 6:30 p.m. Salem’s Main Post Office is open weeknights until 5:30 p.m.

Here are some tax mailing tips:

• Make sure your tax return has sufficient postage. The IRS will not pay postage due. Mail with insufficient postage is returned to the sender.

• First-Class postage is 49 cents for the first ounce and 21 cents for each additional ounce. If mailing a number of supplementary forms and schedules with your return, the envelope is likely to weigh more than one ounce.

• In addition to being available at Post Offices, stamps can be purchased at dozens of locations, including supermarkets, drug stores and contract postal units. Locations may be looked up online at usps.com.

Finally, a reminder: IRS forms are not available at postal locations.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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