2015 Tax Deadline: Does Your Post Office Have Extended Hours?

April 15 is not just any Wednesday -- it is the 2015 deadline to file your taxes without penalty.

Taxes must be postmarked April 15 to file without penalty. The long lines of taxpayers waiting into the night on tax deadline day are becoming things of the past, as more and more people are filing their taxes electronically. As a result, most post offices will have regular retail business hours on Wednesday, George B. Flood, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service-Northeast Area said in an email.

The Madison Post Office, located at 10 Lincoln Place in Madison, will not be operating with extended hours on tax deadline day. However, it will be open until 6 p.m.

But if you’re running late, here are a few quick tips to help:

• Click here for mailing tips and hours of operation for your local branch.
• Click here for form 4868, used for automatic extensions.
• Click here for electronic filing options.

Here are some tax filing tips:

• If depositing returns in a blue collection box on Wednesday, April 15, double-check the pick-up schedule on the label. To ensure getting the April 15 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 cost of a one-ounce letter is $0.49 and $0.21 for each additional ounce.
• 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 athttp://www.irs.gov/ for federal forms, http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/prntgit.shtml for New Jersey State forms.

According to Flood, the closest Post Office open until midnight on April 15 in the New York Metropolitan Area is the James A. Farley Main Post Office at 421 8th Ave. in Manhattan, across the street from Penn Station / Madison Square Garden.