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. SE-
WELL, 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postmark Payment 
Act of 2012’’. 
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SEC. 2. DATE OF POSTMARK TO BE TREATED AS DATE OF 
PAYMENT OF A BILL, INVOICE, OR STATE-
MENT OF ACCOUNT DUE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 26 of title 39, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 2606. Date of postmark to be treated as date of 
payment of a bill, invoice, or statement of 
account due 
‘‘(a) If any payment required to be made on or before 
a prescribed date is, after such date, delivered by the Post-
al Service to the payee, such payment shall be deemed re-
ceived by the payee on the date of the United States post-
mark stamped on the envelope or other cover in which 
such payment is mailed. 
‘‘(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to 
any payment— 
‘‘(1) other than a payment on a bill, invoice, or 
statement of account due; 
‘‘(2) which is required, by law, regulation, or 
contract, to be delivered by any method other than 
by mail; or 
‘‘(3) which is subject to any other provision of 
Federal law specifying how a postmark date shall be 
used in determining the date on which such payment 
shall be deemed to have been delivered or made. 
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‘‘(c) Subsection (a) shall apply only if— 
‘‘(1) the postmark date falls on or before the 
prescribed date for making the payment; and 
‘‘(2) the payment was, on or before such date, 
deposited in the mail in the United States in an en-
velope or under other appropriate cover, postage pre-
paid, properly addressed to the payee. 
‘‘(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a 
postmark not made by the Postal Service. 
‘‘(e) For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘payee’, as used with respect to 
a payment, includes any person duly authorized to 
receive such payment; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘United States’ means the 50 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of 
the United States. 
‘‘(f) Regulations to carry out this section may be pre-
scribed by the Postal Service.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for chapter 26 of title 39, United States Code, is 
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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SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to any mailing postmarked after the end of the 
3-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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