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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 18, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2005 Mechanical snafu vexes late-filers at tax deadline By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune As if tax day doesn’t have enough stress. The Automated Postal Center reportedly broke at the Medford Post Office — literally at the 11th hour — as people were trying to postmark forms by midnight to make the April 15 deadline, according to last-minute filers. Elizabeth Brown of Medford said she arrived at the post office at 9:30 p.m. and waited for more than two hours to mail her tax forms. "When I got there the line was out the door," she said, guessing she saw a couple hundred people filling the lobby and beyond. She said the line was moving slowly as the self-serve machine at the unstaffed post office weighed envelopes and issued stamps for each person. Advertisement "All of us thought that we had to use that machine because it postmarked it," said Brown. Then it broke at about 11 p.m., she said. Brown said she went to the police station for help. She said the woman who answered the police intercom told her it was not police business to track down post office staff. Jacque Anderson of Medford was also among the many last-minute tax filers. "I’m amazed there wasn’t a riot," she said. "There was not one employee." She said one person in line told her he had just come from Grants Pass where that machine was broken as well. Another had come from a broken machine in Ashland. "You’re doing it the last minute, which you shouldn’t do, but we do," said Anderson. Both women said they hope the post office will honor the date, so they’re not penalized by the Internal Revenue Service. People who file between April 16 and May 15 are penalized 5 percent of the total tax due, said IRS spokesman Bill Steiner. But those who can prove they filed late because of "reasonable cause and not because of willful neglect" will not be penalized. Late filers who are owed a refund are not penalized, Steiner said. Attempts to reach Medford postal officials Saturday were unsuccessful. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s