03/03/2026
New Post Office Rules Have Ramifications for Taxpayers: We all knew something was different. Traditional mail was slowing down. Mail began arriving without being post marked; days later than expected. Recent USPS regulations confirmed our suspicions. They clarified that mail dropped at a local post office or placed in a collection box may not receive a postmark until it reaches a regional processing center - often a day or more after deposit. So, how does this affect taxpayers? For over 30 years in this business, we have fought right up to various deadlines. The rule has always been, your return is considered filed when you drop it off at the Post Office. That's because your mail was traditionally post marked at your local P.O. and the date of the post mark was considered by IRS and other legal entities to be the date of filing. In other words, if you put your tax return in the mail on April 15th, it is considered timely filed, regardless of when the IRS actually received it. Not any more. If you put your return or check for a tax payment in the mail on April 15th, that envelope may not be post marked for several days. Therefore, even though you left it with a federal government facility, your return or payment is late, and you now owe penalties and/or interest. This issue can be solved by filing all returns and making all payments electronically. In fact, by Executive Order all payments to and from the federal government are supposed to be made electronically, barring extenuating circumstances. In those extenuating circumstances, it's advisable to send your tax payments via Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested, which is a few more dollars of postage, but can save a lot more in penalties. You can also ask for a free manual post mark or Postage Validation Imprint. In any event, don't count on just dropping your return in the blue box on the due date anymore. You could very well get one of those dreaded letters from the IRS.
