Postal Service busy today, too

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 11:41 a.m.

In addition to the IRS, another federal agency -- the U.S. Postal Service -- will be busy today.

The Postal Service will have one office -- the main station at 1001 E. Sunset Road -- open until midnight to accept tax returns and postmark them by the deadline.

"Every year, we have people in our lobbies filling out their taxes on Tax Day," USPS spokesman Vic Fenimore said. "Like last year, we will have an IRS representative here to help people fill out forms and answer their tax questions."

Also, tax returns can be put in specially marked collection boxes at postal stations in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas until 8 p.m. and be postmarked on time, Fenimore said.

At the Sunset post office, where traffic is expected to be heavy, four Metro Police motorcycle officers and a dozen members of the Civilian Police Auxiliary will be on duty to make traffic move as quickly as possible, Fenimore said.

More than 130 million returns nationwide are expected to be processed this year, the IRS said, noting that many will pour in around the deadline. Through March 30, the IRS had received just 69.9 million returns, slightly behind the 70.2 million received at the same time last year.

Through March 30, nearly 57.1 million returns were processed and $100 billion in refunds were issued compared to 57.3 million returns and nearly $95.6 billion in refunds through the same date last year, the IRS said.

Why people wait to the last minute -- including many who are getting refunds -- remains a mystery to IRS officials and others. But some people have a good excuse for waiting until the 11th hour rush.

For example, Lance Sullivan, a 21-year-old native Las Vegan, stopped by the IRS office on Oakey Boulevard Thursday to pick up a form that will allow him to make installment payments to the IRS.

"I made the mistake of putting down 'exempt' instead of 'zero' (on his employee tax paperwork) so instead of getting a refund I owe $1,600," Sullivan said. "I'll file by Monday. I figure, why file early if I owe money?"