Postal Bulletin 22144 - December 23, 2004 - USPS.com

100 POSTAL BULLETIN 22144 (12-23-04)
2004 IRS Tax Packages
On December 27, 2004, contract mailers for the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) will begin mailing approximately
46.5 million tax-related items to individual households for
tax year 2004. This total includes approximately 29 million
individual tax packages. The remaining quantity consists of
approximately 9 million self-mailers that promote electronic
filing and a standard letter-size mailing of approximately 8.5
million pieces. These figures continue the trend of fewer
mailings from year to year — the IRS has reduced the number
of tax packages it mails to individual households as
more taxpayers transition from filing paper tax returns to
filing electronically.
All mail should be entered by mid-January 2005. Postage
will be paid through IRS Permit Imprint Number G-48.
Tax packages for Hawaii will be shipped by air. Tax packages
for Alaska and Puerto Rico will be shipped by boat.
Acceptance Offices
Contract mailers for the IRS will prepare tax packages
for mailing at the Standard Mail Enhanced Carrier Route
rates. Acceptance office employees must verify that mailings
meet all preparation and marking requirements in the
Domestic Mail Manual (DMM).
Acceptance office employees must verify that tax package
mailings are prepared according to presort requirements
for Standard Mail Enhanced Carrier Route mailings.
Acceptance office employees must verify the mailings according
to standard acceptance procedures, including
those appropriate to optional procedure systems for those
mailers previously authorized. Postal Service verification
ensures that the rates and piece counts reported on the
postage statements are accurate and that the IRS has paid
the correct postage.
Destination Offices
Contract mailers will deliver the mail to plants according
to scheduled appointment dates recorded in the Facility Access
and Shipment Tracking (FAST) system and will also
provide a PS Form 8125, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment
(PVDS) Verification and Clearance. Plant personnel must
verify trailer contents with mailer information recorded on
PS Form 8125.
Crossdock Pallets: Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs) and Processing
and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) will receive pallets
labeled to 5-digit, 3-digit, and sectional center facility
(SCF) destinations. Keep the pallets intact and dispatch
them to the appropriate destination.
BMC Working Pallets: Upon receiving working pallets,
Operations employees will break open the pallets for distribution
of the contents. The destination for each package,
sack, or tray is on the label. Dispatch the packages, sacks,
and trays to the destination facilities for distribution to the
delivery units.
Delivery Offices
Deliver tax packages upon receipt.
Errors and Irregularities
Delivery office personnel should be alert to errors in
preparation and marking requirements. When carrier route
presort errors exceed the 5-percent allowance, deliver the
mail and use established reporting procedures to report
errors to the following address:
MANAGER REVENUE AND FIELD ACCOUNTING
ATTN IRS FORMS TAX PACKAGE 2004
US POSTAL SERVICE
475 L’ENFANT PLZ SW RM 8831
WASHINGTON DC 20260-5242
Undeliverable Tax Packages
The tax packages do not include ancillary service endorsements.
Therefore, no tax package is eligible for forwarding
or return services.
Treat all undeliverable forms as waste — do not
place them in Postal Service lobbies for any reason.
— Capital Metro Sales,
Sales, 12-23-04