With the April 17 tax deadline fast approaching, the Internal Revenue Service is offering last-minute help.

“We’ll have all five of our Maine IRS offices open on Tuesday, April 17, to assist with putting the finishing touches on tax forms, act as a drop-off point for completed returns, or to lend a hand with an extension of time to file,” said IRS spokesperson Peggy Riley. “Our toll-free tax assistance number, 1-800-829-1040, is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through the end of the filing season.”

Highlights of filing season statistics show that through early April, taxpayers nationwide filed nearly 33 million returns electronically. To date, more than 133,000 Maine individuals have chosen to use an electronic filing method. More than 4.8 million filers prepared their own returns on computers, representing a 36 percent increase from last year. So far in Maine, 21,998 people have used a home computer to prepare their returns.

The total number of individual returns expected from Maine is 605,000. To date the IRS has received 54 percent of the returns and projects 32,000 filers will request an extension of time to file.

Help is available at IRS offices, which are located in the following areas: Augusta, Bangor, Lewiston, Presque Isle and South Portland for office hours contact individual offices.

Tax volunteers, trained by the IRS, will offer free tax preparation at some post offices Tuesday, April 17. Tax assistance is available from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Augusta post office, 4-8 p.m. at the Bangor post office and 2 p.m. to midnight at the Portland post office.