The annual income tax season is in full bloom.

And it ends at 11:59 p.m. on April 17, according to Uncle Sam.

Income tax returns usually require an April 15 postmark, but taxpayers have until Monday, April 17, to file their returns this year because April 15 falls on a weekend.

Bend’s main post office at 2300 NE Fourth St. plans to give last-minute filers a few extra hours to mail their tax forms that day.

At midnight April 17, Bend Postmaster Bob Zlatek said mail will be collected from the main post office’s blue boxes and indoor mail drops. Tax forms mailed after that time will be postmarked April 18 and considered late, he said.

The office will also keep its counter service open one hour later on April 17. Instead of closing at 5:30 p.m., the post office will close at 6:30 p.m.

Unlike Bend’s main post office, other regional mail handlers will have no change in business operations that day. Post offices in Redmond, Sisters, Madras and Prineville report that they will have normal schedules on April 17.

So will mailboxes on Bend’s streets, Zlatek said.

For example, if someone drops their tax return in a Newport Avenue mailbox April 17 at 5 p.m. and the mail was collected at 3:45 p.m., it will be late, he said.

In the meantime, taxpayers needing help filing tax forms are encouraged to make appointments with those offering assistance, program workers said.

Free basic tax assistance by the AARP is available nationwide for seniors, including in Central Oregon.

The AARP Tax-Aide program is available to elderly, low- and middle-income taxpayers free of charge at the senior center.

But appointments are required because of its popularity.

Brenda Chilcott, program coordinator for the Bend Senior Center, said many of the center’s phone calls these days are inquiries about the program. The front desk averages anywhere from 50 to 75 calls a day, she said.

For those interested in seeking help with their taxes before the deadline, there are the limited appointment opportunities offered by the AARP.

The AARP Tax-Aide program offers assistance from trained volunteers. It is the nation’s largest free volunteer tax assistance and preparation service of its kind, according to its Web site.

”It’s a totally free service,” said Ken Gasior, the program’s regional coordinator for Central Oregon. He also said there is no charge for program users to file electronically on site.

Carol Schoenborn, the program’s coordinator for Bend, said basic tax forms can be filed during visits with program volunteers.

Average appointments for program users can last at least an hour, she said.

Schoenborn also advises that program volunteers only handle basic needs and questions for elderly, middle- or low-income taxpayers. Those with more complicated issues, like big-business matters, will likely require more than one hour to complete tax forms.

Schoenborn said the volunteers go through intense training before the program begins Feb. 1. They are usually people like retired accountants and businessmen and women who deal with tax issues at work, said Schoenborn, a retired computer specialist.

She also said program popularity is high as soon as it begins.

”People want refunds because they already know there’s money coming,” Schoenborn said.

Gasior and Schoenborn said there is a significant difference in response from the government to mailed and electronically filed refund requests.

Gasior said a mailed refund request takes 10 to 14 days to be processed, while Schoenborn said electronically filed refund requests take at least three days.

In the meantime, Bend area residents are advised that appointment times for tax assistance at the senior center are limited.

Chilcott said Thursday that program is booked with appointments until April 12 unless someone cancels.

Tax Help

Central Oregon sites for AARP Tax-Aide program:

* Bend Senior Center, daily, 1600 SE Reed Market Road, Bend, 388-1133

* Redmond Senior Center, Mondays through Thursdays, 325 NW Dogwood Ave., Redmond, 548-6325

* Crook County Commission on Children and Families, Thursdays only, 205 NE Fourth St., Prineville, 447-3260

* Oregon State University Extension Office, Tuesdays and Thursdays only, 34 SE D St., Madras, 475-2516

* La Pine Fire Station, Mondays only, 51550 S. Huntington Road, La Pine, 536-1765

* Warm Springs Family Resource Center, Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, 1144 Warm Springs St., Warm Springs, 553-3438

Hours of operation for all sites are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Call to make an appointment.