For an electronic version of this news release, send an email to mhnasko@usps.gov.

HARRISBURG, PA — With the deadline for filing income tax returns rapidly approaching, the Postal Service is getting ready for last minute filers.

All Post Offices in the Postal Service’s Central Pennsylvania District will be open regular hours on Tax Day, Tuesday, April 15.  There will be no extended hours at Post Offices in the immediate area, on April 15.

Local Post Office closing and mail collection times vary.  Post Office, Self Service Kiosks and collection box location, hours, and pick-up time information is available at 1-800-ASK-USPS or online at usps.com.

The Postal Service offers the following advice to tax filers:

• On April 15, mail early in the day at any Post Office, station, branch or collection box.
• If depositing returns in a collection box on Tuesday, April 15, double-check the pick-up schedule on the label. To ensure getting the April 15th postmark, deposit returns before the last scheduled pick-up time.
• Stamped packages weighing more than 13 ounces must be presented in person to a Post Office clerk to comply with FAA regulations.
• Make sure your return is signed and dated and all schedules and supporting documents are enclosed.
• Affix the appropriate postage, especially since the item may weigh more than an ounce. Have a postal sales and service associate weigh and rate the item for you. Tax agencies will not pay postage due and your short-paid return will be returned to sender – and you may miss the deadline (tip: 5 pages equals approximately one ounce).
• Furthermore, it is very important that your envelope has a return address. Short-paid items without a return address will be sent to the postal mail recovery office for determination of the sender, delaying its return.
• 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.revenue.state.pa.us (PA Forms).
• Please remember that mail must be deposited before the last collection time at the Post Office or collection box on April 15 to receive an April 15th postmark.

Self Service Mailing and Shipping Centers are available at nineteen area Post Offices.  Using a debit or credit card, customers can use the Self Service Mailing and Shipping Center to weigh and mail their tax returns or regular mail and packages 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, at most locations.

Self Service Mailing and Shipping Centers are located at these Post Offices: Bethlehem, Chambersburg, Easton Palmer Branch, East York Branch, Gettysburg, Hanover, Harrisburg Main, Lancaster Main, Lehigh Valley, Lower Paxton Branch (Harrisburg), Mechanicsburg, Reading Station, Reading Gus Yatron, Shillington, Scranton Main, West York Branch (York), Whitehall, Wilkes-Barre and Wyomissing.

The Postal Service does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses; it relies entirely on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. 

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For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 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 more than 31,000 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 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for seven years and the fourth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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