Does a postage-meter date stamp count as the postmark for proving an Arkansas property tax payment was mailed by the October 15 deadline?

Subject

Whether an office postage-meter stamp satisfies the USPS postmark requirement for an Arkansas property-tax payment mailed near the October 15 deadline.

Plain-English summary

The requester described a payment run through an office postage meter on October 15, 2025, then delivered to a Fort Smith postal facility that day. USPS postmarked it at a Fayetteville sorting facility on October 17. The Benton County collector assessed a late fee using the USPS date.

The Attorney General answered three questions: a private meter stamp is not a postmark under Arkansas law; it is not a Postal Service postmark under federal postal rules; and the collector could not accept this payment as timely on the strength of the October 15 meter stamp. Arkansas's mail-payment provision says a property-tax balance payment is timely if mailed through USPS and postmarked by October 15. A meter stamp shows that a mailpiece went through a meter on a particular date, but does not establish timely delivery to the post office. The opinion cites Arkansas's separate tax procedure provision, which distinguishes USPS postmarks from private meter marks.

The opinion also quotes USPS guidance: a postmark is applied by the Postal Service, while a customer-applied meter strip does not show when USPS took custody. A processing-facility postmark may bear a date later than the customer's trip to the post office. USPS advises a customer who needs the postmark date to match the mailing date to request a manual postmark at the retail counter when tendering the mailpiece.

On the stated facts, the collector could not use the meter date to accept the payment as timely. The Attorney General further concluded that the collector has no discretion in assessing a penalty when personal-property or real-estate taxes are not paid by October 15. Footnote 16 cites Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2025-122; this opinion does not explain that other opinion's reasoning or address appeals.

What this means for you

If you are paying Arkansas property tax by mail

Do not treat your office meter date as proof that the payment meets the statutory USPS postmark condition. If the postmark date matters, the USPS guidance quoted in the opinion says you may request a manual postmark at a retail counter when you hand over the mailpiece. The opinion does not decide whether a receipt for another postal service can substitute for the required postmark.

If you are a county tax collector

For the facts addressed here, an October 15 private meter stamp did not permit the Benton County collector to disregard the October 17 USPS postmark. The opinion says the collector cannot accept that payment as timely and lacks discretion over assessing a penalty when the taxes are unpaid by October 15. It does not decide the powers of a county court or circuit court.

If you handle a business's tax mail

A postage meter prints postage, but its date stamp does not establish when USPS took possession. The opinion identifies one way to seek a same-day USPS postmark: present the mailpiece at a postal retail counter and request a manual postmark when tendering it.

Common questions

Q: Does running my tax payment through a postage meter on October 15 make it timely by mail? A: No. The opinion says a meter date stamp is not a USPS postmark and does not establish timely delivery to the post office. The cited property-tax provision requires mailing through USPS and a postmark by October 15.

Q: What if I handed the envelope to USPS on October 15 but it was postmarked October 17? A: That was the requester's scenario. The Attorney General concluded that the collector could not use the October 15 meter stamp to accept the payment as timely and lacked discretion over the late penalty. This opinion does not discuss an appeal process.

Q: Can I ask USPS for a postmark when I hand over the envelope?
A: The USPS guidance quoted in the opinion says customers who need the postmark date to match the mailing date may request a manual postmark at a postal retail counter when tendering the mailpiece.

Q: Does a Certified Mail receipt replace the statutory postmark?
A: This opinion does not answer that question. It distinguishes a customer-applied meter strip from a USPS postmark and describes the manual-postmark request.

Background and statutory framework

A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c)(3)(A), quoted in footnote 5, treats a property-tax balance payment as timely under that subsection if it is mailed through USPS and postmarked by October 15. Footnote 2 quotes A.C.A. § 26-18-105(a)(2), which says only a USPS postmark, rather than a private meter's mark, qualifies under that provision for state-tax notices and payments. The Attorney General cites Bennett v. Dir., Emp. Sec. Dept., an Arkansas Court of Appeals decision involving a metered notice of appeal that was not delivered to the post office on time.

The opinion also relies on the Domestic Mail Manual's distinction between a USPS-applied postmark and postage printed by a customer. The manual notes that a postmark date need not be the first day USPS possessed the item. The opinion's conclusion about the collector's lack of discretion is limited to assessing a penalty when taxpayers do not pay personal-property or real-estate taxes by October 15.

Citations and references

• A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c)(3)(A), quoted in opinion footnote 5.
• A.C.A. § 26-18-105(a)(2), quoted in opinion footnote 2.
• Bennett v. Dir., Emp. Sec. Dept., 73 Ark. App. 281, 42 S.W.3d 588 (2001), opinion footnotes 3–4.
• Domestic Mail Manual, 608 Postal Information & Resources, § 11, opinion footnotes 6–12.
• USPS postmarking statement, opinion footnotes 13–15.
• Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2025-122, cited in opinion footnote 16.

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

TIM GRIFFIN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 2025-117

March 4, 2026

The Honorable R. Scott Richardson
State Representative
4106 SW Rhinestone Blvd.
Bentonville, Arkansas 72713

Dear Representative Richardson:

You report that your constituent “used a mail meter in their office” that placed “a date stamp of October 15, 2025,” on the constituent’s property tax payment. Later that same day, the constituent delivered the payment to a postal facility in Fort Smith. The post office did not apply its own postmark until the envelope reached a sorting facility in Fayetteville, where a second postmark dated October 17, 2025, was placed on the payment. When the payment reached the Benton County Tax Collector, the Tax Collector disregarded the earlier date stamp and assessed a late fee based on the October 17 postmark. You have asked these questions.

Question 1: When a mail meter applies a postmark, does it satisfy and meet the requirements of A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c)? 1

No. Under Arkansas law, a postage meter date stamp does not qualify as a postmark. 2 Instead, a postage meter date stamp proves only that a mailpiece was run through a postage meter on a certain

1
Only A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c) references the procedure for payment of property taxes by mail, so I have amended your question for clarity. 2 A.C.A. § 26-18-105(a)(2): “Only the postmark of the United States Postal Service, rather than those of private postage meters, shall qualify for the provisions of this section [related to timeliness of notices and payments of state taxes through the Postal Service].” See also postmark, Black’s Law Dictionary 1413 (12th ed. 2024) (“An official mark put by the post office on an item of mail to cancel the stamp and to indicate the place and date of sending or receipt”).

BOB R. BROOKS JR. JUSTICE BUILDING
101 WEST CAPITOL AVENUE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201

The Honorable R. Scott Richardson
State Representative
Opinion No. 2025-117
Page 2

date. 3 A postage meter date stamp does not establish “timely delivery to the post office,” 4 and it does not meet the requirements of A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c). 5

Question 2: Under Arkansas law and the applicable federal law, does a metered stamp satisfy the requirements of a postmark?

No. As explained in response to Question 1, a metered stamp does not qualify as a postmark under Arkansas law.

Similarly, federal law defines a “postmark” as “a marking applied by the Postal Service to a mailpiece.” 6 A postmark serves to confirm “that the Postal Service accepted custody of a mailpiece[] and that the mailpiece was in the possession of the Postal Service on the identified date.” 7 But “the postmark date does not necessarily indicate the first day the Postal Service had possession of the mailpiece.” 8 And “the absence of a postmark” does not imply that the Postal Service never accepted custody of an item, since not all mail is postmarked in the ordinary course of operations. 9

By contrast, pre-printed labels applied by the customer before mailing—such as postage printed from self-service kiosks, online postage, and meter strips—do not constitute postmarks. 10 They

3
Bennett v. Dir., Emp. Sec. Dept., 73 Ark. App. 281, 283, 42 S.W.3d 588, 590 (2001) (overturning the Board of Review’s finding that the late filing of a notice appeal was “beyond the control of the employer” when the attorney ran the notice through the postage meter but did not ensure timely delivery to the post office). 4 Id. at 284, 42 S.W.3d at 590.
5
See A.C.A. § 26-35-501(c)(3)(A) (“A property tax balance payment is timely received under this subsection if mailed through the United States Postal Service and postmarked by October 15.”). 6 Domestic Mail Manual, 608 Postal Information & Resources, § 11.1, available at https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/608.htm#11.0 (emphasis added). See also 8 C.F.R. § 245a.12 (noting that postmarks made by the Postal Service trump other date stamps or markings in regard to timeliness of immigration filings and applications); 26 C.F.R. § 301.7502-1 (noting that postmarks made by the Postal Service trump other date stamps or markings in regard to timelines of federal income tax payments or notices); 27 C.F.R. § 70.305 (noting that postmarks made by the Postal Service trump other date stamps or markings in regard to timeliness of payment of federal excise or special taxes). 7 Domestic Mail Manual, 608 Postal Information & Resources, § 11.3.
8
Id.
9
Id.
10
Id., § 11.4.

The Honorable R. Scott Richardson
State Representative
Opinion No. 2025-117
Page 3

merely show that a customer purchased and printed postage on a certain date. 11 They cannot be used to demonstrate that the Postal Service accepted custody of a mailpiece. 12

The Postal Service has also publicly acknowledged that it “began moving away from hand-canceling every item at Post Offices decades ago.” 13 Mail is now transported to a separate processing facility for postmarking, and “the date on the postmark applied at [these] processing facilities will not necessarily match the date on which the customer’s mailpiece was collected by a letter carrier or dropped off at a retail location.” 14 The Postal Service advises that “if a customer wants to ensure that their mailpiece receives a postmark, and that the date on the postmark aligns with the date of mailing, the customer may take the mailpiece to a Postal Service retail location and request a manual (local) postmark at the retail counter when tendering their mailpiece.” 15

Question 3: Based upon the fact that the payment was marked October 15, 2025, by mail meter, should the Benton County Tax Collector accept the underlying payment as timely and not have assessed a late penalty?

No. As discussed above, if the Benton County Tax Collector received a payment with a postage date stamp of October 15, 2025, the collector cannot accept the payment as timely. Further, the collector does not have discretion in assessing a penalty when taxpayers do not pay their personal property or real estate taxes by October 15 of each year. 16

Assistant Attorney General Jodie Keener prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.

Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General

11
Id.
12
Id.
13
USPS.com, https://about.usps.com/newsroom/statements/010226-postmarking-myths-and-facts.htm (last visited Mar. 4, 2026) (“Customers have used postmarking for their own purposes, but postmarking is not and has not been a service that the Postal Service has provided to the public for [proving when mail was sent]. The postmark has always fundamentally existed to perform functions (including cancellation of postage) internal to Postal Service operations.”). 14 Id.
15
Id. (emphasis in original).
16
Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2025-122.