by: Margaret “Peggy” S. Hewitt, Esq.
On December 24, 2025, section 608.11 “Postmarks and Postal Possession” was added to 39 CFR Part 111, the Code governing the United States Postal Service, the Domestic Mail Manual. This added section to the Domestic Mail Manual reveals absolutely no substantive change in the law, policy, or procedure of the USPS, it merely attempts to improve the public’s understanding of postmarks and their relationship to the date of mailing. This is important to lawyers as we deal with filing deadlines in a myriad of procedures, and while lawyers have not in the past placed the act of dropping correspondence into a mailbox at par with “filing,” we must be reminded that, while the presence of a postmark on a mailpiece confirms that the Postal Service was in possession of the mailpiece on the date of the postmark’s inscription, the postmark date does not inherently or necessarily align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of the mailpiece, and is therefore, not PROOF of physical mailing.
For clarification, the date on postmarks applied at processing facilities represents the date of the first automated processing operation applied at that facility. The machines that apply the postmarks, and the staff who operate those machines, have no way of ascertaining whether that date happens to align with the date on which the USPS initially took possession of any specific mail piece. In other words, postmarks at processing facilities might have a date later than the date the mail piece was first accepted by the USPS, for example: when it was collected by a mail carrier. By contrast, the date on a postmark applied at a retail unit indicates the date on which the mail piece was accepted at the retail unit. To ensure the postmark matches the date you mailed the document, go to a USPS retail location and ask for a “hand-stamped” or “manual” postmark on the day you deposit it. This is very similar to dropping a pleading in the “in basket” at the Circuit Court clerk’s office, versus obtaining a “stamped copy” of the pleading from the clerk receiving the document. While all Florida attorneys are governed by mandatory electronic filing generally resolving timed document issues, proposed orders, correspondence to judges, and certain confidential documents may not be suitable for the portal and might require direct submission.
With the USPS emphasizing in the new regulation that the postmark may not be consistent with the date of mailing, attorneys should follow these steps to prove timely mailing:
- Present the time-sensitive document at a post office retail counter and request that a USPS postmark be applied manually to the item at the time of acceptance;
- Present the time-sensitive document at a post office retail counter and pay for postage at the retail counter. The USPS will print and apply to the item a postage validation imprint (PVI) label that indicates the date on which the USPS accepted that item;
- Present the time-sensitive document at a post office retail counter and buy a Certificate of Mailing, PS Form 3817. The USPS charges a fee for a Certificate of Mailing, but it is much lower than the fee for certified or registered mail service. A Certificate of Mailing provides basic proof of mailing that shows the date on which the item was mailed, the addressee’s name and mailing address that were shown on the face of the envelope, and how much postage was paid; or
- Present the time-sensitive document at a post office retail counter and send it using the USPS certified or registered mail service. The sender will receive a USPS postmarked receipt that shows the actual mailing date. The use of certified or registered mail service provides the sender with tracking ability, a record of delivery, signature confirmation of delivery, and the option to buy insurance against loss or damage. (*Credit CBIZ: https://www.cbiz.com/insights/article/new-regulations-clarify-postmarks-and-the-mailbox-rule.)
Additional guidance: Various federal tax laws and regulations pertaining to certain documents and payments rely on the “timely mailed, timely filed” doctrine (TMTF), codified in Internal Revenue Code section 7502. These documents include tax returns, tax refund claims, tax payments, and U.S. Tax Court petitions (“time-sensitive documents”). TMTF provides that if such documents and payments are properly addressed and mailed by the applicable deadline, and the USPS (or other eligible carrier) postmark date is on or before that deadline, the documents and payments will be considered timely filed or paid, even if delivered after the deadline.
Again, there has been NO SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE to the USPS practice or procedure. This is a regulation added to simply clarify that when a piece of mail, deposited in some manner to the USPS, is determined to have been postmarked for proof of mailing. Dropping into a mailbox has NEVER been proof of, nor has a meter stamp ever established, the date of mailing for purposes of proof in a legal proceeding.
