jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Remember when you would hear something like, "Entries must be postmarked by October 30th to qualify."? I can't remember the last time I saw a postmark, especially one that was legible. There is either a pre-printed postage label, or a smudge that cancels a postage stamp. I can see a situation in which a person does not get credit for a payment because the postmark doesn't show when it was sent.

BebuLamar

As far as payment go, the companies that receive the payment count the time they receive the payment. They don't care when you sent it so the post mark is irrelevant for payment.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right, but the date does count for some things, voting, for example. When I pay my taxes by mail, the bill says it must be postmarked by a certain date. I can pay one in person, but the other one has to go by mail.

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

Jerry!

It depends on the party organizing the event. Income taxes are due by their date and as long as the returns are postmarked properly, then you are OK. Years ago, my wife and I used to go to the main Post Office at 34th Street here in Manhattan around 11 PM to drop off our returns. There were thousands of people coming and going. Some years there were promotions or free coffee or something being given away in front of the stairway into the PO. There were always several local TV stations broadcasting from the PO and getting remarks from the many patrons filling out their returns at the last minute. The Post Office would always cancel your returns with the April 15 date even if you were a little late! One year, I was photographed by the NY Post newspaper and appeared on the cover page, standing in line at one of the windows to buy stamps! But electronic filing killed the party!

However, banks love it when your payment comes late and they can charge you a late fee even though you sent the payment with time to spare! Someone in the government proposed that the date canceled by the PO should be the correct date for payments and receipt of documents. But that was killed by the banks and others receiving payments. Online banking and kiosks have solved that problem.

Be well! Ed

Minitman Loc: Centreville, Virginia

My post office says if you mail a bill that has a bar code under the address there will not be a post mark. If there is no bar code there will be a post mark. Not sure this is true, but it’s what I was told.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

If it's important for the date to show, ask the clerk to hand stamp the envelope.

insulator Loc: JASPER, ALABAMA

You should be able to request the P.O.to hand stamp postage with a date and time.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Alas, I think the USPS has fudged the entire postmark deal - a couple of years back I mailed a bunch of postcards from Roswell (dropped them in the slot at the main post office there) and had written something clever alluding to visiting my alien overlords...then a few days later some friends asked me what i was talking about and when I asked them what the postmark said they told me "Lubbock". So (likely for some cost savings I presume) the USPS leadership figured it was heaper and more efficient to do the postmarking after driving the mail a couple of hundred miles away...and if that takes a day or two then does it affect the date printed?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Funny!

I've seen things like that happen before. A local PO will ship certain mail to a major PO, and that place will add the postmark.

Dannj

Wouldn’t it be pretty hard to “prove” when something was postmarked if a dispute arose? We drop things in the mail box or at the counter at the PO and expect it to be marked that day. If we’re later notified that a payment, for example, was late, how do we go about proving when it was mailed?

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

I wanted to post an answer here (the name of the Post Master General) but didn't want this thread to get kicked to "The Attic" !!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Traditionally, a postmark contains the name of the PO and the date.

https://www.google.com/search?q=piostmark+images&oq=piostmark+images&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMgoIAhAAGAUYDRgeMgwIAxAAGAgYDRgPGB4yCggEEAAYhgMYigUyCggFEAAYhgMYigUyCggGEAAYhgMYigUyBggHEEUYQNIBCDI4MzhqMGo0qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#vhid=lBgkugEZyLp4AM&vssid=l

Flash Gordon

My wife and I are both retired CPA’s. We always mail our tax returns “USPS Priority Mail”. Therefore, we always have proof of mailing date and proof of delivery receipt. Remember, the IRS and state taxing authority’s are not your friend’s.

kufengler Loc: Meridian, Idaho 83646

All my bills are paid through our credit union's "BILL PAY" system. That let's me know the date I entered the payment and more importantly the date it arrives at the company. So far it's worked great, at least since I've started it this way. I haven't written a check in years, or anything, except my car, back in January 2015.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Me, too. The company tells me when it received payment, and I see when it cleared the bank (credit union).