When is a COBRA Notice Mailed?

Posted by BAS - 03 December, 2020

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The timing and receipt of COBRA notices and payments have long operated under the “mailbox rule.” This rule provides that an item’s postmark date is its deemed delivery date.

A recent Tax Court case addressed what happens when there are conflicting postmarks and how that impacts if a document was mailed timely. A couple received a notice of tax deficiency and had a March 5, 2018 date to file a petition for reconsideration with the Tax Court. The parties put their petition in an envelope and stamped it with a private postage meter on March 5, 2018. They took the envelope to a post office and put it in a mailbox with a 5:00pm last pickup time.

The IRS received the petition on March 12, 2018 and the envelope showed both the private postmark of March 5 and a United States Postal Service postmark of March 6. The IRS took the position that the petition was late because of the March 6 date and the couple argued that the petition was timely mailed on March 5.

The court hearing the case agreed that the IRS follows the mailbox rule and considers the postmark date to be the delivery date. They held that an item sent by U.S. mail is considered timely if the envelope is properly addressed with proper postage, the postmark date is on or before the deadline and the document is mailed on or before that date. It went on to say that when an envelope contains a legible USPS postmark and a private postmark, the private postmark is disregarded. A copy of the case may be accessed by clicking here.

This case sets guidance for IRS matters, including evaluating the timeliness of COBRA notices and payments.

Topics: COBRA, HR & Benefits Compliance, HR & Benefit Plans, HR & Benefits News


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