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Deadline for taxes tonight at midnight
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As a reminder of the tax filing deadline, Teri Biedrzycki of Liberty Tax Service waves a sign at the corner of Louise Avenue and North Main Street on Tuesday. - photo by VINCE REMBULAT
H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Liberty are among the area’s big three income-tax filing services.

Procrastinators, once again, are expected to converge on these places, with hopes of squeezing in appointments to beat today’s midnight deadline as established by the Internal Revenue Service.

H&R Block, for starters, has over 40 offices, including specially trained tax professionals at three Manteca locations (1027 S. Main St., 1266 W. Lathrop Rd., and 1082 E. Yosemite Ave.) and one in Ripon (1021 W. Main St.).

Jackson Hewitt has over a dozen sites, with Manteca offices at 1160 S. Main St. and 1205 S. Main St.

Still, Terry Parker of Liberty Tax Service at 1041 N. Main St., Ste. C – Liberty also has an office in Lathrop, 217 E. Louise Ave. – and his CPA staff is braced to handle the last-minute filers.

“We’ve been very busy the last two or three days,” he said on Tuesday.

According to the IRS, taxpayers who owe or miss the April 15 deadline to file their tax return may face interest on any unpaid taxes and a failure-to-file penalty.

Those who are unable to file their return by this deadline can request for an extension. However, the extension of time to file does not include an extension of time to pay, the IRS said.

H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Liberty are able to beat the deadline thanks to e-filing, a fast and accurate online service.

“We will be transmitting (via e-filing) up until midnight,” Parker added.

Meanwhile, Autumn Winters, a supervisor at the U.S. Post Office at 165 N. Maple St., Manteca, has been directing folks to the nearby library branch to pick up their tax forms.

“We used to carry tax forms here years ago,” she said.

Winters noted steady business at both the downtown and annex (6866 Industrial Park Drive) of folks mailing in their tax forms to the IRS.

As for the deadline, the main Manteca branch will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. while the operation hours at the annex will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

However, folks waiting up until the very last minute – or the midnight deadline – to turn in their income taxes can do so by driving up to the Stockton post office, 3131 Arch-Airport Road.

In addition, the IRS urge all those filing a paper return to double-check their figures, Social Security numbers, include the proper attachments, and signatures on all forms in order to avoid delays.

“We also had some early tax filers in late January and early February,” said Terry Parker of Liberty. “Back then, there was this fear of the government issuing IOUs (on returns).”