How a quiet change made to postmark rules could influence your tax penalties this year. What you need to know

On Christmas Eve, the Trump medication softly changed the rules that formally specify what a postmark is and erstwhile it is applied (1). Under the caller rule, the authoritative postmark day reflects the archetypal day the message was automatically processed, not the day it was dropped successful a mailbox. (2)

While this whitethorn look similar a tiny change, it could person a important interaction connected important documents that trust connected the mailing process, specified arsenic taxation payments, voting ballots, oregon bills. Previously, whenever you mailed a letter, you could spot that the station bureau would springiness it an authoritative day stamp reflecting the time the portion of message was received.

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For example, ideate you driblet an important taxation outgo oregon ballot into a bluish mailbox connected a Saturday afternoon. Under the aged system, the postmark would typically bespeak that Saturday date, adjacent if the message didn’t determination immediately. Under the caller rule, that missive whitethorn not beryllium collected oregon sent to a processing installation until the pursuing Monday — and if that Monday is simply a national holiday, the authoritative postmark could beryllium pushed to Tuesday, adjacent though you mailed the point days earlier. That hold could propulsion the postmark past a deadline, contempt the information that you acted connected time.

Here’s however this alteration could impact the mode the mean idiosyncratic mails important documents, and however to debar large issues.

For decades, the postmark day served arsenic a benignant of information net, particularly for last-minute taxation filings. As agelong arsenic your taxation instrumentality oregon outgo was dropped successful the message by the filing deadline, the stamped day was impervious that you filed connected time, adjacent if the IRS didn’t person it for respective days.

That is important due to the fact that the IRS treats the postmark day arsenic the filing day for insubstantial returns. According to the Internal Revenue Service, millions of Americans inactive trust connected that rule. While astir taxpayers present record electronically, astir 11 cardinal radical mailed insubstantial returns past year, according to IRS filing information (3).

Under the United States Postal Service's caller policy, that extortion is weaker. If your instrumentality isn’t processed by the deadline (even if you mailed it connected time), it whitethorn beryllium considered late. That’s particularly risky if you beryllium money, due to the fact that late-filing penalties and involvement tin commencement accruing quickly, adjacent if you miss the deadline by conscionable a fewer days (4).