Carson P.O. sticks to normal hours for Tax Day

A luxury often used by tax procrastinators, the special extended hours on April 15 are getting eliminated by more post offices across the country.

The retail office of Carson City's Main Post Office at 1111 S. Roop St. is open normal business hours from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Deposits can be made until 6 p.m. Hours are the same at the Ormsby Station office, 2613 Empire Ranch Road.

Other post offices - in states such as South Carolina - will opt out of extending their Friday hours. This will cut overtime costs for keeping workers up late.

Carson City Postmaster Doug Hval said tax day used to be a busy day at the post office, but with the convenience of electronic filing, more taxpayers are opting to skip the postal process entirely for their tax returns.

"It's really not necessary here," he said Tuesday about extending hours. "A huge majority of people are filing electronically. Tax Day is just not what is used to be five or 10 years ago."

Taxpayers can get extra time to mail returns by filing for extensions, but those who owe the Internal Revenue Service must send payments by Friday.

Those who owe money will face a 5 percent penalty on the amount they owe if they miss Friday's filing deadline.

Reno's mail processing department will take deposits until 11:59 p.m., extending hours for last- minute tax returns. The retail counter will be open until 8 p.m. Friday.

"We will have employees in front of the post office on Vassar Street taking tax returns from customers," said Desnie Czipka, an employee in customer service support.

The Sparks Main Post Office will be open until 7 p.m., and the South Lake Tahoe Main Post Office will be open until 8 p.m.

n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.