Last-day filers turn in taxes to Uncle Sam

By Kyle B. Hansen, Jeremy Twitchell

Published Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 3:53 p.m.

Southern Nevada residents joined citizens across the country today in what has become an unofficial national holiday: Tax Day.

Despite the growing popularity of online tax preparation and e-filing, people were still lining up to send their returns to Uncle Sam the old-fashioned way – in an envelope.

The James C. Brown Jr. Post Office on Sunset Road saw a steady stream of customers throughout the day but most of the time the lines at each window were only a few people long.

Dan Ferguson, who was one of the filers waiting in line, said he waited until the bitter end to file so he could put off sending in money.

“I owe money and I’m waiting until the last minute to pay it,” he said.

“I have to pay every year, so that adds to my procrastination,” said Mark Shofner, who also was in line. “Since I have to pay, I can’t justify paying more to e-file,” he said.

Mark Van Aken, with his stamped envelope in-hand, agreed that he didn’t want to pay the government any sooner than necessary.

“In 40 years of doing taxes, if I owe money, I never give it to them a day early,” he said.

But not everyone mailing in returns on Wednesday did so to delay paying their taxes.

“I waited until today because my taxman forgot that I get alimony and we had to redo (my taxes),” said Evie Cronan.

The U.S. Postal Service was keeping later hours Wednesday at several locations to accommodate late filers.

Drive-through and customer services were available until midnight at the Brown Post Office, 1001 E. Sunset Road, next to Paradise Road.

Postal workers also will make 10 p.m. pickups from outside collection boxes at the following post offices: Red Rock Vista, 2449 N. Tenaya Way; Spring Valley, 3375 S. Rainbow Blvd.; Winterwood, 5070 Vegas Valley Drive; Meadow Mesa, 4904 Camino Al Norte in North Las Vegas; and Henderson, 404 S. Boulder Highway.

And for the seventh year, the postal service is working with Mandalay Bay to staff a drive-through post office in the parking lot outside the Shark Reef aquarium.

The Mandalay Bay event, called Procrastinators and Predators, had mobile postal units and workers on-site to sell stamps and collect tax filings until 8 p.m. Anyone who files at the site will receive a free voucher for the aquarium, a $16.95 value.

Postal Service spokeswoman Marilyn Fenimore said the Mandalay Bay site has become one of the busiest on tax day.

“We get a lot of people out there,” she said. “We had almost 4,000 there last year.”

Mid-afternoon, Fenimore said traffic seemed to be about the same as last year, but most people come after work. She said the Mandalay Bay site was a way to thin out traffic at regular post offices and provide better service.

“On the last day for taxes, everyone is trying to get to the post office at once. This draws people away from the main post office,” she said.

People utilizing the Mandalay Bay location said they enjoyed the convenience of the site, as well as the free tickets.

“It’s great,” said Diana Geoffrion, who has dropped off her taxes there for all seven years the site has been open. “There’s no line and you can get tickets for your friends and family,” she said.

Terry Felix works for the Postal Service, but still went to Mandalay Bay to mail both her own and her mother’s taxes.

“It’s convenient,” she said. “The parking is good and it’s always well-organized.”

Last month, the makers of Turbo Tax filing software declared the Las Vegas metropolitan area No. 10 on its list of the most procrastinating cities when it comes to filing taxes.

Fenimore said it’s not a phenomenon that’s necessarily unique to Las Vegas — roughly one in five people file their taxes in the final week, she said.

And despite the rise in online filing, Fenimore said, post offices are still packed in the waning hours each April 15.

“A lot of them owe money and have to send a check, so they do that through the Postal Service,” she said. “When people owe money, they usually don’t want to send it until they have to.”

Fenimore said last-minute filers should watch out for a number of common mistakes. “One of the biggest things is people not putting enough postage on the envelope,” she said.

Fenimore said stamps cover up to 1 ounce — about four sheets of paper — and each ounce is another 17 cents. If there is not enough postage, she said, the package will be shipped with postage due, but the IRS will reject it and it will eventually be returned to the sender.

She said the other big problems are people not addressing their envelopes and not including a return address.

“One thing we saw a lot last year and in years past, is people just writing ‘IRS’ on the envelope and nothing else on it,” Fenimore said. “We at least need a city.”