Key Takeaways
- The USA Postal Service (USPS) has up to date its postmark guidelines to make clear that postmarks now replicate the date of processing, not the date of acceptance.
- When mailing a tax return or different official paperwork with a deadline, it’s essential to remember that the postmark utilized could also be dated later than the date the merchandise was dropped off.
- Your Inventive Planning wealth supervisor can assist coordinate mailing deadlines of your tax return and tax payments for well timed and correct submitting.
How the Mailbox Rule Works
For many years, contract regulation and the U.S. authorities have operated underneath the provisions of Inner Income Code (IRC) 7502 for mailing deadlines of official paperwork. Generally known as “the mailbox rule,” this rule states that the U.S. postmark date on a correctly mailed tax return, assertion, declare or cost is taken into account the postmark date, so long as the mail merchandise is correctly addressed, has enough postage and is deposited in a U.S. mailbox.
For many years, taxpayers have relied on the postmark date matching the date of mailing. Nevertheless, that precedent is altering as a result of a current change in america Postal Service’s (USPS’s) processing guidelines.
What Has Modified With USPS Postmarks
In response to the USPS, most postmarks are utilized at processing facilities, not at drop-off areas. Due to this, postmarks replicate the date a mail piece is processed, which isn’t all the time the identical date it was deposited by the sender. The USPS’s new steerage has been up to date to replicate this actuality and notify taxpayers that the postmark date could also be later than the day the mail was accepted by the USPS.
This alteration in coverage was printed within the Federal Register on November 24, 2025, and have become efficient on December 24, 2025, which suggests it is going to influence 2025 tax filing deadlines.
The right way to Handle the Change
Taxpayers can now not be assured {that a} mail piece deposited in a mailbox on April 15 will probably be postmarked the identical day. This implies a tax return mailed on April 15 could possibly be postmarked on April 16 or later, which might be seen as a late submitting by the IRS.
Following are a number of strategies to assist guarantee your tax return is compliant with submitting deadlines.
File electronically every time doable
The easiest way to keep away from mailing delays is to file your return and make crucial funds electronically. Along with offering proof of submitting, the advantages of e-filing embody sooner refunds, elevated accuracy, enhanced privateness safety and the choice to streamline each federal and state returns by a single software program program.
Buy postage at a retail counter
Buying postage at a retail counter ensures the postage validation imprint (PVI) stamped on the mail piece displays the date of acceptance.
Request a handbook postmark
When particularly requested, the USPS will present a handbook postmark at no further cost. As a result of the handbook postmark is stamped on receipt of the mail piece, the date of the stamp is in step with the drop-off date.
Buy a certificates of mailing or use licensed/registered mail
A certificates of mailing serves as proof of the date on which the USPS accepted a chunk of mail. Sending a mail piece by licensed or registered mail additionally supplies a mailing receipt that can be utilized to show compliance with tax submitting deadlines.
For assist making certain your tax return and tax funds are filed in a well timed and correct method, please attain out to your Inventive Planning wealth manager.
