The deadline is the same every year, March 31, and every year some Alaskans fail to file on time for their annual Permanent Fund dividend.

“My worst day is April 1,” said Sarah Whittlesey-Merritt, who has staffed the Legislative Information Office in Wrangell for years, assisting people with their PFD applications.

“There is always at least that one person” who comes in a day late and a lot of dollars short.

The PFD last fall was $1,000, with at least that much expected this year.

Last year was an exception, Whittlesey-Merritt said. No one called or came into the office on April 1 to file after the deadline.

But someone did stop in the office to apply — on April 7.

Applications can be filed online at pfd.alaska.gov, as more than 520,000 Alaskans had done as of Monday. March 23. Last year’s applications totaled more than 660,000.

People also can file a paper application, which is available at the Legislative Information Office on the second floor of the Kadin Building, upstairs from Tongass Federal Credit Union offices.

In addition to having the forms available in a stand outside her office, Whittlesey-Merritt said she can help people who need more information. The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Call 907-874-3013 with any questions.

For first-time filers who need to submit a birth certificate or other documents, the office “can certify copies of identification documents for PFD applications so you do not need to mail your original documents,” she said.

Paper applications must be postmarked by 11:59 p.m. March 31, which means last-day filers should bring their envelope to the window at the post office to get hand stamped. Mail dropped in the box after hours will not get postmarked until the next day — too late to qualify for the dividend.

Though the application period opened Jan. 1, a lot of Alaskans leave it to the end. “I do get a lot the last two weeks of March,” Whittlesey-Merritt said.

The Legislature will set the amount of this year’s dividend before they adjourn in mid-May. The payments go out the first week of October, with most Alaskans receiving their PFDs as a direct deposit to their bank, credit union or other financial institution.

A decreasing number of Alaskans opt to wait for a paper check to arrive in the mail.

The money to pay the dividend comes from investment earnings on the Alaska Permanent Fund, a savings account created by a constitutional amendment in 1976 to save some of the state’s oil revenues for future generations.

The fund stood at almost $89 billion on Feb. 28, before the stock market took a substantial drop as the war in Iran drove up oil prices, shaking the global economy.