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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Drop-off spots make filing less taxing

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Yesterday, a day before the tax-filing deadline, Hawai'i residents jammed the downtown post office. Longer lines are likely today. Honolulu postal officials said they received 63,000 tax mailings with an April 15 postmark last year.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Late tax mail drop-off sites

Tax returns deposited by midnight in specially marked collection boxes at the following postal stations will receive an April 15 postmark:

Honolulu

Airport (curbside service until 10 p.m.)

Downtown (curbside service until 10 p.m.)

Hawai'i Kai
Kapalama
Makiki
Waikiki
Wai'alae Kahala

O'ahu

'Ewa Beach
Hale'iwa
Kane'ohe
Kailua
La'ie
Mililani
Wahiawa
Waipahu
Procrastinators take heart. The U.S. Postal Service is again providing curbside service at two O'ahu locations until 10 p.m. so you can wait almost until the last minute to mail your federal tax returns.

Curbside service will be available at the main post office next to Honolulu International Airport and at the downtown station on Richards Street.

But the postal service is recommending you head downtown rather than to the airport because of heightened security concerns. If you do choose the airport drop-off, use the Nimitz Highway access to Aolele Street and avoid using the freeway off-ramps, the Postal Service says.

Now, if you want to procrastinate just a little longer, those two locations will accept mail in special, marked collection boxes. Similar collection boxes will be available at 25 other Postal Service stations statewide.

All mail dropped off by midnight will bear an April 15 postmark. Postal workers this year will not sell stamps at curbside, however, and all packages should already have sufficient postage.

Last-minute filing has proven to be an annual event for thousands.

"Last year, we collected 63,000 tax mailings on April 15," said Honolulu District Manager Ed Broglio.

The deadline for filing state income tax is April 21 this year. There will be no extended Postal Service hours for late state filers.

Taxpayers who procrastinated and now find themselves up against today's filing deadline can get a four-month extension from the IRS by filing a one-page form, no questions asked.

But even those asking for an extension must pay their taxes by today to avoid paying penalties.

"My biggest piece of advice is that the extension is only an extension to file, not an extension to pay," said Evan Snapper, senior manager with personal financial counseling at Ernst & Young.

Taxpayers must make a good faith effort to estimate how much they owe when they use form No. 4868 to file for an extension, and they must pay 90 percent of their taxes owed for the year to avoid penalties.

Taking a wild guess at the tax bill and pleading ignorance later may cause the IRS to revoke the extension.

"It's not going to work, not on April 15," Snapper said.

Late filers can take some comfort that they are not alone. The Internal Revenue Service expects more than 8.5 million people to file for the automatic four-month extension.

The number of people requesting more time has gradually crept up over the past two decades to more than 6 percent.

The extension can be filed the old-fashioned way, with a mad dash to the post office before midnight. It can also be filed over the phone by calling toll-free (888) 796-1074, or electronically through computer software or a tax professional.