I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3086

To permit the Secretary of the Treasury to designate qualified delivery services, in addition to the United States Postal Service, for purposes of

timely filing of tax documents with the Internal Revenue Service.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 14, 1996

Mr. COX of California (for himself, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr.

HERGER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee, Mr.

ROHRABACHER, Mr. CRANE, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr.

GOSS, Mr. SMITH of Texas, and Mrs. MYRICK) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To permit the Secretary of the Treasury to designate qualified delivery services, in addition to the United States

Postal Service, for purposes of timely filing of tax documents with the Internal Revenue Service.

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 ‘‘Fast and Efficient Tax

5 Filing Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 cur2 rently provides that the postmark on a tax document

3 is deemed to be its delivery date (known as the

4 ‘‘timely-mailing-as-timely-filing’’ rule).

5 (2) A recent decision by the United States

6 Court of Appeals has held that in order for a tax7 payer to rely on this provision, he or she is required

8 to use the United States Postal Service. As a result,

9 even if a taxpayer uses an overnight delivery service

10 that guarantees earlier receipt by the Internal Reve11 nue Service than first class mail, his or her tax doc12 uments are considered officially late.

13 (3) It is in the best interests of the Internal

14 Revenue Service that tax documents, including pay15 ments of tax liabilities, be delivered as promptly as

16 possible.

17 (4) Several major private delivery services in

18 the United States are at least as timely and reliable

19 on a regular basis as the United States Postal Serv20 ice and are widely used for vital document delivery

21 in virtually all other facets of our Nation’s economic

22 life.

23 (5) It is inequitable that a taxpayer should be

24 assessed penalties and interest even though his re25 turn arrives at the Internal Revenue Service prior to
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1 that of another taxpayer who is not penalized, and

2 even though both taxpayers responsibly sent their re3 turns at the same time.

4 (6) In its recent interpretation of the ‘‘timely5 mailing-as-timely-filing’’ rule, the United States

6 Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stated that

7 there is ‘‘a legitimate policy rationale for extending

8 the rule to private delivery services,’’ but stated fur9 ther that ‘‘it is for Congress, not the courts, to make

10 such a change.’’

11 (7) Existing law should be changed to permit

12 the Secretary of the Treasury to designate qualified

13 delivery services in addition to the United States

14 Postal Service for purposes of the ‘‘timely-mailing15 as-timely-filing’’ rule, thereby increasing the effi16 ciency of the Internal Revenue Service and making

17 it easier for United States taxpayers to file their tax

18 returns on time.

19 SEC. 3. USE OF PRIVATE DELIVERY SERVICES FOR TIMELY20 MAILING-AS-TIMELY-FILING RULE.

21 Section 7502 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

22 (relating to timely mailing treated as timely filing and

23 paying) is amended by adding at the end the following

24 new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF PRIVATE DELIVERY SERV2 ICES.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any reference in this sec4 tion to the United States mail shall be treated as in5 cluding a reference to any designated delivery serv6 ice, and any reference in this section to a postmark

7 by the United States Postal Service shall be treated

8 as including a reference to any date recorded or

9 marked as described in paragraph (2)(C).

10 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATED DELIVERY SERVICE.—For

11 purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘designated de12 livery service’ means any delivery service provided by

13 a trade or business if such service is designated by

14 the Secretary for purposes of this section. The Sec15 retary may designate a delivery service under the

16 preceding sentence only if the Secretary determines

17 that such service—

18 ‘‘(A) is available to the public,

19 ‘‘(B) is at least as timely and reliable on

20 a regular basis as the United States mail, and

21 ‘‘(C) records electronically to its data base,

22 kept in the regular course of its business, or

23 marks on the cover in which any item referred

24 to in this section is to be delivered, the date on
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1 which such item was given to such trade or

2 business for delivery.

3 ‘‘(3) EQUIVALENTS OF REGISTERED AND CER4 TIFIED MAIL.—The Secretary may provide a rule

5 similar to the rule of paragraph (1) with respect to

6 any service provided by a designated delivery service

7 which is substantially equivalent to United States

8 registered or certified mail.’’

9 SEC. 4. USE OF PRIVATE DELIVERY SERVICES.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Reve11 nue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions)

12 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 7524. USE OF PRIVATE DELIVERY SERVICES.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any reference in this title to the

15 mailing of any notice, request, or other document shall be

16 treated as including a reference to delivery by any des17 ignated delivery service.

18 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED DELIVERY SERVICE.—For pur19 poses of subsection (a), the term ‘designated delivery serv20 ice’ means a delivery service designated under paragraph

21 (2) of section 7502(f).

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY TO REGISTERED AND CERTIFIED

23 MAIL.—Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to United

24 States registered or certified mail only to the extent pro25 vided by the Secretary by regulation.’’
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

2 for chapter 77 of such Code is amended by adding at the

3 end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7524. Use of private delivery services.’’

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