Most post offices to close at normal times on tax day

Raleigh, N.C. — The deadline for mailing 2008 federal tax returns is Wednesday, and most Triangle post offices are maintaining normal hours that day.

The Raleigh Main Post Office at Westgate Station, 1 Floretta Place, will be open until 6 p.m. and accept completed and stamped tax returns until midnight; all other offices will be open regular business hours.

Fourteen 24-hour automated postal centers (APC) will be available for purchasing postage with the required date, and six contract post offices will be open after 5 p.m. La Plaza Latina Post Office in Durham will be open until 10 p.m.

National figures show that 60 percent of Americans used e-file last year for their 2007 returns.

"In North Carolina, last year more than 67 percent of N.C. individual taxpayers – both those who prepared their own and those who went to preparers – used e-file. As of April 2, more than 2.1 million N.C. individual taxpayers used e-file. The IRS estimates the total (both e-file and paper) 2008 returns to be 3.9 million," IRS spokesman Mark Hanson said in a statement.

Mailers are strongly advised to check the last pickup time posted on neighborhood blue collection boxes before depositing their tax returns as there will be no special or late collection of mail.

Also, mailers using an APC, or self-service kiosk, should be aware that an APC does not provide “proof of mailing."