Tax Day Rush Keeps Valley’s Post Offices Busy

The rush began early Friday afternoon at the Van Nuys Main Post Office.

By 2 p.m., cars were already backed up for a block and postal officials were rushing to set up a drive-through drop-off. And for every car but one, there seemed to be an excuse or maybe a nod toward tradition.

It was tax day.

“For many people in the Valley, they are conditioned that this is the place to come on tax night,” said post office spokesperson Terri Bouffiou. “It is a fun, crazy way to spend your Friday night.”

Postal clerk Elizabeth Perez has watched the annual parade for 10 years. “I think it started early because it’s the weekend, but we will stay busy all night and still get stragglers coming in around 1 a.m.,” she said.

“Sometimes they are parked along the street and still filling out the forms with a calculator.”

Post offices in Burbank, Canoga Park, Encino, Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Sylmar and Woodland Hills, in addition to Van Nuys, stayed open until midnight on Friday.

Some in line had had anything but a traditional tax preparation season, according to tax officials.

Rebecca Villalobos, spokeswoman at the IRS Fresno Service Center, said the Jan. 17 earthquake caused filing problems for many Los Angeles residents who did not have their damage documents organized.

Others delayed because of the federal tax increase passed last year, she said.

“The new tax increase may have had an effect on people if they find that the new tax rate will make them pay more and it isn’t possible because they don’t have the money,” Villalobos said. “They may have to pay more, but they get more time to pay.”

Those caught in that bind get three years to pay, she said.

At least one man joining the postal rush had been tripped up by methods that were supposed to make filing easier and faster. “My home computer wouldn’t print out the form,” said a man who identified himself only as John, as he rushed to the Van Nuys post office to obtain a tax form.

And to add insult to injury, when he got into the post office he found out they were not carrying the forms he needed.

“I got myself into my own trouble,” he said. “I waited until the last minute.”

Last-minute filers have been around as long as taxes themselves, according to officials. “Close to half of all taxpayers wait until the last few weeks to get their patriotic duty in the mail,” said Jim Reber, spokesperson for state Franchise Tax Board.

Statewide, 7.5 million people filed before the last day, Reber estimated, about 1 million fewer than last year.

Five million more Californians were expected to file on Friday.

One man at the post office had no excuses for pushing the deadline, and said he was proud of it. “I am proud of being a last-minute procrastinator,” Tony Delgado of Panorama City said with a laugh. “This year I am actually doing it on time because they owe me money.”

Perez said many of the drive-through customers simply throw their envelopes out their windows while others are afraid the mail might not get through. “They ask me, ‘Are you sure it is going to get posted today’ or they worry that they don’t have enough postage,” she said, as a man drove by anxiously handing her his taxes.

He mumbled something about making sure his forms make the deadline.

“Don’t worry. I got them in the box,” she told him.