By Mary O’KEEFE

Reports from several agencies have stated that postmarks administered by the USPS changed on Dec. 24, 2025. This change will affect vote-by-mail, taxes and other time-sensitive mailings. 

According to the National Society of Tax Professionals, “While a postmark confirms the USPS possessed a mail piece on the date inscribed, that date does not necessarily align with the date the USPS first accepted possession of the item.” Postmarks will now reflect the date the mail is processed but not received by the post office. For example, tax returns dropped in a blue mailbox on April 15 or a vote-by-mail ballot on Election Day could still be marked late depending on when the USPS article was processed. 

Responding to reports of the change, USPS stated it did not change its postmarking practices but transportation operation may cause delays … so the act of postmarking has not changed – postal workers will still stamp mail with a date; however, it all depends on when the truck with the mail arrives, not the date recorded of the pickup time on the mailbox. 

“The Postal Service has not changed and is not changing and is not changing our postmarking practices, which have been consistent since we began moving away from hand canceling every item at Post Offices decades ago. Postmarks are generally applied by machines at our originating processing facilities and will continue to be applied at those facilities in the same manner and to the same extent as before …. While we are not changing our postmarking practices, we have made adjustments to our transportation operations that will result in some mail-pieces not arriving at our originating processing facilities on the same day that they are mailed. This means that the date on the postmarks applied at our processing facilities will not necessarily match the date on which the customer’s mail-piece was collected by a letter carrier or dropped off at a retail location,” according to USPS.

Customers who want a postmark aligning with the date of mailing can still request one by going into the Post Office.

The takeaway is that people who have time-sensitive mail should walk into a post office, present their letter or package to the postal worker, ask for a postmark stamp that the item was received and to also request a receipt reflecting that date.