Problems with Priority Mail?

[indysteve]

Has anyone here had problems with items sent as Priority Mail with the U.S. Postal Service being delivered on time? I'm being audited by the IRS, and I sent a package containing photocopies of 140 documents supporting my deductions to their Atlanta area office on March 11 by Priority Mail, which is supposed to be delivered in 2-3 business days. I also sent it as Certified Mail with Return Receipt. On the USPS web site, they show it arriving at the post office in Atlanta early on March 13, but they still do not show it as delivered as of the evening of March 17. I'm starting to get very nervous about this. If it isn't there by March 20, I will owe the IRS several thousand dollars.

I'm going to the post office from which I mailed the package on Tuesday to ask what's going on. If they can't tell me what happened to it, I'm going to call the IRS and ask for some more time to get the documentation to them. Then I'll have to spend about four hours copying the documents again, and spend more of what used to be my money to send them again (with a different carrier this time!).

I never imagined that something sent Certified and Priority Mail still might not be delivered seven business days after it was sent, when it was supposed to be there in two or three. :mad:

[IndyMichael]

Think the tornadoes in Atlanta could be why it hasn't been delivered?

[comfortably numb]

Maybe the Atlanta office is in Kansas now.

[Racewriter]

I'd never send anything that was time-critical by the Post Office. Priority Mail is find for stuff that is "time-sorta-important," like Ebay auctions, but I'd never send anything like what you're describing.

My advice: Get down to a Kinko's tomorrow, copy your stuff again, and FedEx it out.

[flyingpylon]

I've found the USPS web site to be inaccurate at times, for whatever that's worth. You might have better luck checking in with the local post office, but I don't know. Could you just call the IRS to see if they got it? Maybe DannyB can chime in with some advice.

[TM1511]

Think the tornadoes in Atlanta could be why it hasn't been delivered?

This could be the reason. Especially if the post office and IRS offices are downtown.

[JSR]

My advice: Get down to a Kinko's tomorrow, copy your stuff again, and FedEx it out.

You meant get down to a UPS center or UPS store and send it out, right?

UPS regular ground delivery would have been in Atlanta in 2 days from the Indy area and everything is trackable. Just an fyi. The tornadoes could be a factor in this one though.

[roach]

You meant get down to a UPS center or UPS store and send it out, right?

roach

[JSR]

roach

I'm a current UPSer.

[Racewriter]

You meant get down to a UPS center or UPS store and send it out, right?

Nope. I know some of the people who work there.

[PHJIndy]

UPS is much more efficient than Fed Ex, imo.
I used both in my 28 year buying career and UPS was much more reliable.

[indysteve]

I just got off the phone with the IRS. I explained my situation to the lady on the phone, who was very nice. She said that they (the people who work on the tax audits) are not in the main Atlanta office. Anytime you mail something to them other than by regular mail, it will take 3 1/2 weeks to get to them! This is because they do not sign for things at their office -- they only accept things which require a signature at the main Atlanta office. They pick up regular mail daily for their office, but signed items have to go to the main office first and then be sent internally by the IRS to their office (don't know why that takes three weeks ). Certified Mail, UPS, FedEx, all take 3 1/2 weeks to get to their office.

She said I will get my Return Receipt before they actually get the package I mailed. She said I will probably get one or two follow-up letters as we cross in the mail, but they will eventually get it. She said I should call about 3 1/2 weeks after I mailed the package to verify that they received it. I said to her, "So basically, you're saying there was no way for me to respond to your letter by the deadline, because I received it less than 3 1/2 weeks prior to the due date." She replied, "Only if you send it by regular mail." But of course, there's no way to legally prove they received something sent by regular mail. They could receive it, lose it, and claim you never sent it -- and you would still owe the tax.

I guess I'm going to sit tight and see what happens. I hope the package gets delivered to the main office at least by Thursday. I'll at least have legal proof then that the IRS received it on time, even if it didn't make it internally to the correct office by then.

Another great example of your tax dollars at work.

[DannyB]

What Paul said....

Gotta love the IRS too. Not only what happened here to Steve, but the fact that we pay their salaries.

BTW, your tax dollars do not pay mine. Your postage only pays it.

[Qdoba Addict]

Will the IRS accept a fax or emailed scan of the documents? Let the pay for the ink and toner that way.

[indysteve]

Good news. The USPS web site now shows the package I sent to the IRS being delivered at 3:15pm on March 17. Now only three more weeks before it makes it to the audit examiner's desk.

DannyB, I didn't mean to imply that tax dollars pay USPS salaries. That remark was meant in regards to the wonderfully inefficient procedures within the IRS. Sorry if that was not clear.