With Tax Day only a week away, the United States Postal Service is reminding filers to pay special attention to Post Office retail hours and collection box pick-up times.
Post Offices in Tennessee and Northern Georgia will be open regular business hours on Tuesday, April 15. 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 www.usps.com.
Gone are the days when Americans waited until the last minute to mail tax returns with a trip to their local Post Office before midnight.
Now the majority of taxpayers file online. According to the IRS, out of 146 million individual tax returns filed in 2013, almost 83 percent were e-filed.
Here are some filing tax tips:
· If depositing returns in a blue 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.
· Affix the appropriate postage, especially since the item may weigh more than an ounce. The IRS will not pay postage due and your filings will be returned if there is insufficient postage. The post office says that about five pages of paper are an ounce, which would require one 49-cent stamp. If you are in doubt, have the envelope weighed at the post office.
· Be sure and include a return address on the envelope. Short-paid items without a return address will be sent to the postal mail recovery office for determination of the sender, delaying its return.
· The USPS highly recommends getting the security of proof of mailing and proof of delivery of your tax returns -- use certified mail service with a return receipt, plus the applicable postage.
· Tax forms are no longer available at Post Offices. Check online at http://www.irs.gov/ (Federal forms), http://www.tn.gov/revenue/forms/ (TN forms) or https://etax.dor.ga.gov/ (GA 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.