Postal Service ready for Tax Day

ST. CHARLES, IL — If you haven't filed your taxes yet, the United States Postal Service is here to help. The deadline this year to file is Wednesday, April 15.

Because many customers file electronically, local post offices will maintain regular hours. For details on services and hours at neighboring post offices, please call (800) ASK-USPS (275-8777) or go to www.usps.com.

The price to mail a one-ounce first-class letter is 49 cents; 21 cents for each additional ounce. The cost to mail a one-ounce first-class large envelope is 98 cents; 21 cents for each additional ounce. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not accept mail arriving postage due.

For last minute tax filers, the self service kiosk makes mailing and shipping easy and is available at select post offices. The kiosk offers first-class postage stamps, certified mail with return receipt, and delivery confirmation. Customers can weigh, mail letters and parcels using debit and credit cards when using the kiosk. Next to the kiosk is a mail collection box for depositing items. For tax filers, an April 15 postmark will be provided if the mail is deposited by the last pickup time posted on the kiosk on April 15.

Tax mailing tips:

• Taxpayers are urged to avoid typical errors made when mailing returns such as: unsigned forms, not enough postage and depositing returns in collection boxes whose pickup time has past.

• Use pre-addressed labels where possible. Write clearly. Take special care to ensure that handwritten envelopes are legible. Include a return address.

• Use first-class postage. The IRS recognizes the first-class letter postmark as proof a return was mailed on time.

• Apply proper postage. Weigh any return that feels heavier than one ounce.

• Rule of thumb: up to 5 sheets of 20-lb. paper using a number 10 envelope equals one ounce.

• The IRS does not accept postage due mail even if it has the April 15 postmark; tax returns with insufficient postage will be returned – penalizing taxpayers for filing late tax returns.

• Certified mail with return receipt is a good choice for customers sending original receipts to tax agencies.

• Make certain bulky envelopes are securely sealed using tape.

• Postal regulations require that tax returns affixed with postage stamps weighing 13 oz. or more must be mailed at a post office. They cannot be mailed in a collection 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.

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.