Most of us are aware of the timely-mailed-timely-filed
"mailbox rule" contained within the Internal Revenue
Code. Most of us are probably also aware that a document mailed
with a private delivery service may also qualify for the rule.
However, as illustrated by the U.S. Tax Court's recent decision
in Sanders v. Commissioner, there are important details to
the rules governing private delivery services, the failure to
adhere to which can lead to disaster. Also complicating matters,
many states do not conform to these federal rules, so taxpayers
must carefully review and adhere to the filing rules in each state
where they have state tax filing obligations.
The mailbox rule is codified in Internal Revenue Code (IRC)
§ 7502. Pursuant to IRC § 7502(a), the deemed delivery
date for any return, claim, statement or other document required to
be filed by a prescribed date under the "internal revenue
laws" is the U.S. postmark, provided that the document is
actually delivered
