Is ita good idea to send in tax returns by certified mail?

I use a Certificate of Mailing, which is just what it sounds like, a form that has a postmark showing that you mailed your return and to what address. It's cheaper than certified mail, and just as good in case there's some question whether you filed.

Regards, John Levine, snipped-for-privacy@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be,

ex-Mayor"More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.

I have used it for unusually important returns such as form

5500 or an 83(b) election. I have not used it for normal 1040's, estimated payments, etc. on the theory that if everyone sent those by certified mail it would clog up the system.

Another option is Certificate of Mailing.

Steve

I have always used certified mail with a return receipt. It is expensive and time consuming.

What exactly do you do to get a certificate of mailing? I looked it up and see it is $1.10, but can't find anything on the actual process.

The IRS has said that it won't accept a Certificate of Mailing as proof of timely filing. Courts have disagreed. (I use a CoM too.)

Seth

You get a little form on which you write the To and From address, which the post office postmarks to verify the date and that you mailed something.

I've never had to prove that I mailed something, so I don't know how likely the IRS is to claim it's no good.

R's, John

Certified Mail is a waste of money. You can get a bar coded Delivery Confirmation for about 25 % of the Certified price-- though you'll have to put your paperwork in a small box or thick padded envelope. Seems the postal droids can't issue a DC sticker for a "letter"-- only "merchandise". You can check online to see when it was delivered.

Thanks for the inout. When I search for "certified mail" at irs.gov I find something that sort of implies a certified reciept is proof of a timely fileing. "Proof of mailing" costs less as mentioned but I don't know if it buys you the same protection.. - thanks!

I recommended *Delivery Confirmation*, not *Proof of Mailing*. These are two difference services.

DC does just what its name says-- it confirms that your piece of mail was delivered to the recipient by online lookup of your unique DC bar coded number. If they lose it, that's their problem, not yours. You have proof they got it.

Registered mail (via the Internal Revenue Code) and Certified Mail (via IRS Regulations) are the only two USPS proofs accepted by IRS. As another reply said, some courts have accepted other methods but registered and certified are the only "sure" things for IRS from USPS.

I don't waste money on return receipt - registered it isn't necessary and the regulations don't require it for certified.