Tax Procrastinators File In to the Post Office

Braving gusty winds and pelting rain, procrastinating Orange County residents made the pilgrimage Monday to local post offices or Internal Revenue Service centers to file their 1999 income-tax returns before the midnight deadline.

“I always mail them on the last day,” said Harold Asplund, 67, of Irvine. “It’s the principle of the thing. I’d rather make the interest than give it to the government.”

The government postponed this year’s deadline until Monday because April 15 fell on the weekend. For last-minute filers, several IRS and post offices stayed open late.

“Our Santa Ana office is extremely busy,” said Dana Banks, a spokeswoman for the IRS, which kept that and the Laguna Niguel location open late to offer help in filling out tax forms. “It’s standing-room only. Most of the walk-in appointments are filled, and it’s first come, first served. It’s pretty hectic.”

Taxpayers whose returns were not completed in time could file for extensions postponing the day of reckoning until Aug. 15. The extension applies only to returns, though. Those who owed and missed Monday’s deadline will have to fork over penalties and interest, Banks said.

Post offices in Santa Ana and Anaheim offered drive-up service until midnight, allowing taxpayers to hand their returns directly to postal workers dressed in reflective orange vests and rain gear. In Newport Beach, post office windows stayed open until 8 p.m.

“This is the single busiest day of the year for us,” said Rich Maher, a spokesman at the postal center in Santa Ana, where the day’s volume was expected to be about double that of an average day. “For some people, it’s sort of an event,” Maher said. “They get off work, run to the library for tax forms and try to get here before midnight.”

Some people were still completing their tax returns as they stood in line at the post office.

“I just always wait until the last day,” said Jackie Shields, 51, of Huntington Beach. “I don’t even like to think about it.”

Ray Jacob, 71, of Costa Mesa said he needed extra time to figure out where to get the money to pay the government. “I had to rearrange all the money,” he said, “and it took a long time.”

Melissa Cole, 21, said she could think of at least one advantage to filing a tax return just under the wire: “If you die, you don’t have to pay them any money.”