If you’re planning to mail in your 2025 tax returns this year, one detail may make the difference between filing on time and missing the deadline: a postmark.
While April 15 is when federal (and most state) taxes are due, the IRS considers any tax return postmarked on or before that date as being filed on time, even if it’s not received by the agency until days later. A postmark shows the date your mail was processed and historically had been applied the same day you mailed an item.
However, due to ongoing operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service, the day you mail an item may not be when a postmark is applied.
“The core issue is that taxpayers assume the day they drop a return in the mailbox is the day it gets postmarked,” said Joshua Youngblood, founder of The Youngblood Group in Dallas and an IRS enrolled agent. “That has never been guaranteed, but it matters more now than ever.”
As the Postal Service continues a multiyear overhaul of its operations to shore up its finances and modernize its infrastructure, the agency expects an increase in delays between when you mail something and when it receives a postmark, according to a published rule in the Federal Register that took effect Dec. 24.
