Warning Issued as U.S. Postal Service Moves Forward With Major Change in 2026

Every day, millions of Americans across the country rely on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to send all sorts of important things like time-sensitive documents, bill payments, applications, or even tax filings or payments. But some changes are coming.

This year, the USPS is making a pretty significant change that will impact anyone sending a time-sensitive document through the mail.

USPS Changing Postmark Process

For many time-sensitive documents, the postmark date is more important than the date that the document actually physically arrives.

The official postmark is a mark that shows where and when mail was accepted by the United States Postal Service. It has been used in law as proof that an individual met a deadline, such as submitting a ballot by Election Day, tax returns, or bill payments.

In the past, a USPS postmark would indicate the date when mail was dropped in a mailbox or submitted at the post office counter. However, that is now changing, USA Today has warned, and it could lead to late fees or problems for those unaware of the change.

Beginning in 2026, the USPS has instituted a new rule that the postmark will now reflect the date an envelope is first processed by an automated USPS sorting machine. This would mean that the postmark could come days after it was dropped off, rather than on the actual drop-off date.

How Does This Impact You

For years, it's been widely assumed that a letter would be postmarked the day that it arrives at the post office. Now, thanks to a recent modernization push, that will no longer be the case, and it could impact you.

Anything that relies on postmark dates for deadlines can be impacted by later postmarks and risk late fees, penalties, or delinquency. This includes tax filings, payments, charitable contributions, legal filings, ballots, rent payments, and other kinds of bills.

As a result of this change, time-sensitive mail should be mailed several days before the deadline. Alternatively, people can still go inside their local post office and ask for a hand-stamped "manual postmark" on the date, or use certified mail.

But simply dropping a letter in the mailbox and expecting it to be postmarked that day will no longer work.