Time Even Shorter for Some Taxpayers

For late-filing taxpayers in five Ventura County cities, the mad dash to the post office to beat tonight’s midnight deadline may be a waste of time: The last pickup is at 5 p.m.

Post offices in Ojai, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oak View and Port Hueneme are not extending their hours to accommodate procrastinators. The much-sought-after April 15 postmark can be guaranteed only by post offices in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Santa Paula and Ventura.

County taxpayers who want to see their returns postmarked will have to visit the main Oxnard post office, which will have a postal worker in the lobby until midnight hand stamping envelopes.

Although the post office in Moorpark closes at 5 p.m., the Moorpark Optimist Club is providing a pickup service for taxpayers until midnight at Ely Realtors, 484 Los Angeles Ave. The returns will be delivered to a post office and receive an April 15 postmark.

Putting off filing tax returns is a tradition. County tax preparers have experienced the usual surge of last-minute taxpayers this week.

“We’ve been particularly busy,” said Peggy Morgan, office manager at H&R; Block in Oxnard.

Morgan hasn’t seen an increase of taxpayers asking to file an extension, even though the Internal Revenue Service has made it easier to do so. Earlier this month, the IRS eliminated the penalty for filing late. Taxpayers no longer have to pay 5% a month on taxes owed.