Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Tax filers, beware: Phila. post offices stop staffing at 9 p.m.

Planning to snail-mail your taxes tonight, say after Lost, the American Idol results show or the Phillies game?

A sign taped to an entrance to Philadelphia's main post office, 30th and Chestnut Streets, informs customers that all Philadelphia post offices will maintain normal business hours on April 15th - Tax Day.  The counter at the main post office is open til 9 p.m., with automated service available 24 hours a day.
A sign taped to an entrance to Philadelphia's main post office, 30th and Chestnut Streets, informs customers that all Philadelphia post offices will maintain normal business hours on April 15th - Tax Day. The counter at the main post office is open til 9 p.m., with automated service available 24 hours a day.Read moreCLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

Planning to snail-mail your taxes tonight, say after Lost, the American Idol results show or the Phillies game?

You can simply drop your envelope off till 11:58 p.m. at a postal center in Chester County, another in Camden County, and even in Reading, Wilkes-Barre, Lancaster, Scranton and Harrisburg.

But NOT in Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia, if it's after 9 p.m., and you want an April 15 postmark, you'll have to go to an automated center, and use a debit or credit card to get machine to print a postmarked label.

Which will take precious minutes, especially if there's a line.

Contrary to media reports, past practice and the Postal Service's own phone and online listings (as of this morning), the main post office at 30th and Chestnut Streets will end its staffing at 9 p.m., according to Donna Graham, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia district.

"That's the latest in Philadelphia," she said.

After 9 p.m., the only way to get an April 15 postmark there is to use a machine, she said.

No city post office will be staffed any later, she said.

Last year, the old post office across the street was open till midnight, but demand for late service has been dropping in recent years, because of the growing availability of electronic filing, she said.

This year, more taxpayers seem to be filing early, perhaps because the recession has raised the urgency for getting a refund, she said.

For later service, "you need to go to Southeastern, Pennsylvania," she said.

That's the postal center in Chester County, located at 1000 West Valley Road in Tredyffrin Township. (Take Route 202, exit onto East Swedesford Rd., and turn left onto West Valley Road, according to Mapquest.)

The only other area center staffed till midnight is in Bellmawr, Camden County, at 411 Benigno Blvd., off the Creek Road exit of Route 42.

That's the only one in all of New Jersey, according to spokesman Ray Daiutolo.

More than a dozen 24-hour automated centers are scattered throughout the area.

Philadelphia has them not only at 30th and Chestnut, but at 1500 JFK Blvd. (Penn Center), 900 Market St. (William Penn Annex), 2311 Cottman Ave (Roosevelt Mall Station) and 9925 Bustleton Ave.

In the Pennsylvania suburbs, locations include 1 Union Ave. in Bala Cynwyd, 444 E. Township Line Rd. in Havertown, 109 S. MacDade Blvd. in Glenolden, 101 E. Baltimore Ave. in Media, 651 E. Township Line Rd. in Blue Bell, and 275 E. Street Rd. in Feasterville/Trevose.

In South Jersey, the locations include 1 E. Main St. in Maple Shade, 1175 Marlkress Rd. in Cherry Hill, 2496 Route 130 N. in Cinnaminson, 101 E. Baltimore Ave. in Media, 200 Walt Whitman Ave. in Mount Laurel, 504 Centennial Blvd in Voorhees, 123 E. Main St. in Marlton, and 425 Hurffville-Cross Keys Rd. in Turnersville.

A number of post offices will be staffed till midnight in other parts of eastern Pennsylvania, according to a Postal Service news release. Among them are:

Lancaster Main Post Office, 1400 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster.

Reading Post Office at 2100 N. 13th St., Reading.

Wilkes-Barre Main Post Office, 300 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

For hours and locations of more post offices and 24-hour automated centers, go to http://usps.whitepages.com/post_office, chose "Post Office locations" or "Automated Postal Centers," and enter a zip code or the name of a town.

That still won't tell you about possible extended hours, however.

You'll have to click the name of the post office to find that out.

Another option is to call 1-800-275-8777 (1-800-ASK-USPS) and follow the prompts for information about hours of a post office or two near you.

Again, however, these might not be locations with extended hours.