FORT WORTH, TX — Due to a significant decline over the past few years in the demand for late night Post Office “special” operations on the IRS tax filing deadline, Fort Worth Postmaster Les Phipps advises there will be no midnight mail collections in Fort Worth or in Tarrant County on Tuesday, April 15.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, this year over 90 percent of tax returns nationwide have already been electronically filed online.  Of the 148 million returns the IRS expects to be filed this year, only 23 million will be paper returns, down 7 percent from last year.

“With more people filing income tax returns electronically, the Post Office has seen a significant decline in mail volume from last minute tax filers,” said Phipps. “For the past several years, with an increasing decline in customer demand, we not have seen a need to extend hours for April 15 Tax Day operations in Fort Worth as we’ve done in years past.”

Phipps strongly encourages postal customers mailing tax returns on April 15 to use correct postage (IRS will not accept postage due mail) and to carefully check the last pick up time posted on the collection box when mailing. Mail deposited after the last posted collection time will not be postmarked until the following day.

The Dallas Main Post Office, located at 401 DFW Turnpike (IH 30, between Sylvan and Beckley)  will be the only Post Office in the North Texas regional area to have extended retail hours and offering curbside pickup of tax returns until midnight, on the April 15 tax filing deadline. Customers who choose to deposit tax returns in Dallas are advised they may experience significant traffic delays due to street construction along the IH 30 frontage road near the Dallas Main Post Office. All traffic headed eastbound to Dallas, planning to exit at Beckley, will be forced to make a left turn at the red light at Beckley, and traffic will be redirected from normal traffic flows to accommodate the expected increase in traffic flow around the Dallas Main Post Office and the ongoing road construction in front of the postal facility.

Following is a list of Fort Worth Post Office locations with retail services available past 5 p.m., on Tuesday, April 15.

For customers needing postage for completed returns, Automated Postal Centers are located at the following Fort Worth Post Office locations:

• Jack D. Watson Main Post Office, 4600 Mark IV Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX, 76161
• Trinity River Station, 4450 Oak Park Lane, Fort Worth, TX, 76109
• 8th Avenue Station, 2600 8th Avenue, Fort Worth, TX, 76110
• Ridglea Station, 3020 S. Cherry Lane, Fort Worth, TX, 76116
• N. Richland Hills Branch, 6051 N. Davis Blvd, N. Richland Hills, TX, 76180
• Cityview Station, 7101 Bryant Irvin Rd, Fort Worth, TX, 76132
• Kenneth N. Mack Station, 3701 Alta Mesa Blvd, Fort Worth, TX, 76133

Automated Postal Centers are available 24 hours daily, and only accept debit and credit cards.

Express Mail Service
This gets your tax return to many locations the next day guaranteed or your money-back. Express Mail includes online tracking and signature at delivery.

Priority Mail Service
This gets your tax return delivered in an average of 2-3 days. Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation service provides a receipt of mailing for record-keeping purposes and allows the customer to confirm electronically via the web at usps.com, or through a toll-free number, 1-800-222-1811, that the mailing was delivered to the IRS.

First-Class Mail Service
Efficient, economical option for mailing your return with the all-important postmark.

Proof of Mailing Services:
These services provide you with peace of mind. You can prove you mailed your tax return, verify that it was delivered or both.

• Certificate of Mailing
  This receipt shows evidence that you mailed your tax return.
• Certified Mail
  This receipt proves that 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.

Online Services:
These services let you use the online technology to help you mail your tax returns
Click-N-Ship
From any computer with internet access and a printer, you can print Priority Mail and Express Mail labels for all your tax returns, with or without postage, and save yourself precious time.

Mailing Tips:

• Affix sufficient postage (the IRS will not pay postage due). . First-Class postage for letter mail starts at 49 cents for the first ounce and 21 cents for each additional ounce. The First-Class rate for larger, flat sized envelopes (8.5 x 11 inches) starts at 98 cents for the first ounce and $1.19 for up to two ounces.
• Address the envelope clearly and correctly, including return address, and use correct ZIP Code, if not using pre-addressed envelopes provided by the IRS
• If mailing in a collection box, deposit your mail prior to the last scheduled pickup time, which is posted on each box.

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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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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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 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 32,000 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 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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