Tax filers can get help to beat midnight deadline

The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Post Office are planning on extended hours to help last-minute tax filers today.

The IRS office at 110 City Parkway will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today to help walk-ins with specific forms and tax law and offer other aid. The office is also offering free return preparation for taxpayers who qualify for the earned income tax credit or make less than $49,000 a year. Call the office at 702-868-5005 for additional information.

Taxpayers who earned less than $58,000 in adjusted gross income in 2010 are eligible for Free File, an IRS initiative that connects filers with tax-software companies for free online return-filing. To find providers, visit freefile.irs.gov.

AARP Nevada also provides free tax help for low- and moderate-income households at more than 40 sites throughout the state. Visit http://www.aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/taxAideLocationPage.action, or call 866-389-5652 to find an AARP Tax-Aide site.

The U.S. Post Office will stay open late today at several locations around the valley. Taxpayers can deposit their returns in mailboxes at the James C. Brown Jr. branch at 1001 E. Sunset Road through midnight, and the location's retail windows will also be open until midnight to accommodate procrastinators.

Late collections will happen at 10 p.m. for mail deposited in collection boxes outside the Red Rock Vista station, at 2449 N. Tenaya Way; the Spring Valley branch, at 3375 S. Rainbow Blvd.; the Winterwood outpost, at 5070 Vegas Valley Drive; the Meadow Mesa branch, at 4904 Camino Al Norte; and the Henderson location, at 404 S. Boulder Highway.

For the ninth straight year, the Post Office on Wheels clerks will be at Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef to weigh your return and sell stamps. Filers mailing returns from the Shark Reef will get a voucher for free admission.

The cost of mailing first-class postage increased Sunday. The first ounce will still cost 44 cents, but additional ounces will cost 20 cents more. About four pages will equal an ounce.