Local post offices will stay open late and offer late mail collection times today to aid last minute tax filers.

The post offices made the decision to stay open to deal with an increase in volume of about 40 percent today, said Ron Hubrich, consumer affairs manager for the Salt Lake postal service district.

"We'll have people there late to help with whatever postal needs you have at the time," Hubrich said.

The Ogden Main, Salt Lake Main, and Provo East Bay post offices will be open until midnight with retail services available to sell postage and envelopes to help alleviate some of the stress of filing taxes.

Twenty-six other locations across the state will be closed, but will do a midnight pickup so tax documents dropped off at that time will still be postmarked on time.

Around tax filing time, Hubrich said he has seen a number of people filing their taxes right before the deadline. In past years, for example, he saw people in the parking lots of post offices filling out their tax documents only minutes before they were due.

"It's really not as bad as it used to be because of electronic filing," Hubrich said. "Hopefully a lot of people did their tax returns over the weekend."

Despite the weekend and the added benefit of electronic filing, Hubrich estimated that about 20 percent of people wait until the last minute to file and mail their taxes.

"It's nice to know that it's there, just in case something comes up and I can't get there earlier," said Ian Randolph, a Provo resident. "I know in the past, things have gotten stressful, so hopefully this will help out with some of that."

Kim Smith, district manager at the Provo H&R Block said things have been busier this year than in the past because of the stimulus package, which requires taxes be filed on time. He said last week, H&R block saw about twice the regular amount of work because of last-minute filers.

"There's always tension in the air on the last couple days because people know they are up against a deadline," Smith said.

A complete list of the locations that will offer midnight mail pick-up can be found online at usps.com.

Copyright Brigham Young University 18 Apr 2008