With Tax Day fast approaching it’s time to examine yet another Bozo method of courting disaster. And it doesn’t, on the surface, seem to be a Bozo method. After all, this organization has the motto, Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night can stay these messengers about their duty.
Well, that’s not really the Postal Service’s motto. It’s just the inscription on the General Post Office in New York (at 8th Avenue and 33rd Street).
So assume you have a lengthy, difficult return. You’ve paid a professional good money to get it done. You go to the Post Office, put proper postage on it, dump it in the slot (before April 17th), and you’ve just committed a Bozo act.
If you use the Postal Service to mail your tax returns, spend the extra money for certified mail. For $2.95 you can purchase certified mail. Yes, you will have to stand in a line (or you can use the automated machines in many post offices), but you now have a receipt that verifies that you have mailed your return.
About three years ago one of my clients saved $2.42 (I think that was the cost of a certified mail piece then) and sent his return in with a $0.37 stamp. It never made it. He ended up paying nearly $1000 in penalties and interest…but he did save $2.42.
Don’t be a Bozo. E-File (and you don’t have to worry at all about the Post Office), or spend the $2.95! And you can go all out and get a return receipt, too, for just $2.35 (though you can now track certified mail online; remember, though to print the tracking documentation as the Postal Service only stores that data for a limited period of time). For another $1.15, you can get the postal service to e-mail the confirmation that the IRS got the return. There’s a reason every client letter notes, “using certified mail, return receipt requested.”
Tags: BozoTaxTips
[…] you don’t e-file, use Certified mail to file your return. Russ Fox explains: “About three years ago one of my clients saved $2.42 (I think that was the cost of a […]
I’ve been advising my clients to do this for the last ten years – certified mail, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED. I just add my pointer finger in their face for emphasis. So far, no one has had a problem. In fact, we used a copy of a receipt for proof of timely filing on a nonprofit last year. Worked great!
There is a cheaper alternative for all time sensitive tax filings. I use the Automated Postal System (APS) in my local post office. You have to enter the zip code in the process of the APS computing the correct postage. Your receipt will show the city, state and the IRS’s (or applicable state’s) unique Zip plus Four code. I have had a couple occasions, where the IRS said they “did not receive it by the due date”. All I had to do, was to fax the receipt and issue was favorably resolved. Technically the receipt proves that the parcel was just mailed; however, by using the APS the “postmark” on the envelope is assumed to be the same as the date and time on the receipt. More importantly my experience shows that both the IRS and post office accept this assumption.
I do however, go a step further when returning out of town clients their returns and materials: Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. Using this service once enable the Post Office to find, intercept and correctly redeliver a “lost” package…in time.
I do agree with your suggestion: Use Electronic Return Receipt Requested, in lieu of paying more and getting the signed post card back in the mail. Also, at several practitioner seminars in Southern California, the IRS prefers that taxpayers do not use Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. With the APS, I believe I have the “happy medium” by honoring the Service’s preference and insuring returns get the proper postmark.
John Blaubach, EA
Santa Barbara