HAMPTON ROADS, VA — Taxpayers have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 federal tax returns because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls on April 15 this year.

Those filing taxes by mail can drop completed tax paperwork into blue collection boxes, and should verify the last pickup time before depositing their forms. Envelopes weighing more than 13 ounces and bearing postage stamps must be presented in person to a postal clerk to comply with FAA regulations.

Taxpayers should also take care to avoid common errors including failing to sign returns and insufficient postage. Tax agencies will not pay postage due and short-paid items will be returned to sender, potentially causing customers to miss the filing deadline.

Procrastination may cost some a few cents more as new price changes take effect on Sunday, April 17. The cost of a one-ounce First-Class letter remains unchanged at 44-cents; however, additional ounces will increase to 20-cents per additional ounce. Five pages and a business-size envelope equals approximately one ounce. Taxpayers should have a postal retail associate weigh and rate the item to ensure the appropriate postage is applied.

Taxpayers who print shipping labels and buy postage online through the Postal Service’s Click-N-Ship® and elect to send tax returns via Express Mail® or Priority Mail® service will receive free Delivery ConfirmationTM for their returns. Taxpayers can have peace of mind by proving their item was mailed, delivered, or both, using Proof of Mailing services.

• Certificate of Mailing™ Service
  Customers are provided with a receipt as evidence their tax return was mailed.
• Certified Mail™ Service
  A Certified Mail receipt proves customers mailed their tax return. By going online, customers can verify the date and time of delivery.
• Return Receipt
  This receipt verifies delivery, returning a postcard to the customer signed by the person or agency receiving the tax return.

Taxpayers mailing their returns can also use Automated Postal Centers (APCs) - self-service kiosks – to weigh envelopes and print postage. As APC postage shows “date of sale,” it is important that taxpayers deposit their returns before the close of business at the retail Post Office or deposit the return no later than 9 p.m. in a collection box at the Norfolk Processing and Distribution Center, 600 Church Street, on April 18 to receive that day’s postmark.

Automated Postal Centers are located at:

Chesapeake
23320 Chesapeake Main Office, 1425 Battlefield Blvd, N.
23322 Great Bridge Station, 1100 Battlefield Blvd. S.

Newport News
23608 Patrick Henry Station, 685 N Turnberry Blvd. (near Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport)

Suffolk
23434Suffolk Main Office, 445 N. Main St.

Virginia Beach
23452 Main Office/Lynnhaven Station, 501 Viking Dr.
23454 Hilltop Station, 308 Hilltop Square (near K-Mart)
23455 Bayside Station, 2109 Thoroughgood Rd.
23456 Princess Anne Station, 2509 George Mason Dr
23462 Witchduck Station, 4831 Columbus St.
23464 Acredale Station, 1225 Kempsville Rd.

Williamsburg
23188 Monticello Station, 5219 Monticello Ave.
23185 Williamsburg Main Office, 425 N. Boundary St.

Yorktown
Grafton Station, 5702 George Washington Memorial Hwy.

Log onto www.usps.com or call 1-800-ASK USPS (800-275-8777) for more information,

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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, 150 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 $67 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 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. 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 six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.