I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4003 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that the payment of 

a bill, invoice, or statement of account due, if made by mail, shall 

be considered to have been made on the date as of which the envelope 

which is used to transmit such payment is postmarked. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2012 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GONZALEZ, and Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that 

the payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of account 

due, if made by mail, shall be considered to have been 

made on the date as of which the envelope which is 

used to transmit such payment is postmarked. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postmark Payment 

5 Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DATE OF POSTMARK TO BE TREATED AS DATE OF 

2 PAYMENT OF A BILL, INVOICE, OR STATE3 MENT OF ACCOUNT DUE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 26 of title 39, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 2606. Date of postmark to be treated as date of 

8 payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of 

9 account due 

10 ‘‘(a) If any payment required to be made on or before 

11 a prescribed date is, after such date, delivered by the Post12 al Service to the payee, such payment shall be deemed re13 ceived by the payee on the date of the United States post14 mark stamped on the envelope or other cover in which 

15 such payment is mailed. 

16 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to 

17 any payment— 

18 ‘‘(1) other than a payment on a bill, invoice, or 

19 statement of account due; 

20 ‘‘(2) which is required, by law, regulation, or 

21 contract, to be delivered by any method other than 

22 by mail; or 

23 ‘‘(3) which is subject to any other provision of 

24 Federal law specifying how a postmark date shall be 

25 used in determining the date on which such payment 

26 shall be deemed to have been delivered or made. 


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1 ‘‘(c) Subsection (a) shall apply only if— 

2 ‘‘(1) the postmark date falls on or before the 

3 prescribed date for making the payment; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the payment was, on or before such date, 

5 deposited in the mail in the United States in an en6 velope or under other appropriate cover, postage pre7 paid, properly addressed to the payee. 

8 ‘‘(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a 

9 postmark not made by the Postal Service. 

10 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘payee’, as used with respect to 

12 a payment, includes any person duly authorized to 

13 receive such payment; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States’ means the 50 

15 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

16 of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of 

17 the United States. 

18 ‘‘(f) Regulations to carry out this section may be pre19 scribed by the Postal Service.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions for chapter 26 of title 39, United States Code, is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2606. Date of postmark to be treated as date of payment of a bill, invoice, 

or statement of account due.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to any mailing postmarked after the end of the 

4 3-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

5 Act. 

Æ 


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