How to Fill Out a Certified Mail Return Receipt
How does Certified Mail Return Receipt work? When you send important documents or packages through mail, it can sometimes make you feel worried.
Certified Mail is a service offered by USPS that gives you security and provides proof of mailing for your letters and packages.
When you send something via Certified Mail, it gets special treatment
Meanwhile, a Return Receipt is like a confirmation slip for your mail. It’s proof that your mail was indeed delivered to the recipient.
This is very important for important documents or legal notices where you need evidence that the mail was received.
How Does Certified Mail Return Receipt Work?
Certified Mail Return Receipt gives the sender proof of delivery, along with the recipient’s signature.
Let’s quickly go over the specific steps for mailing a certified mail return receipt:
1. Get PS Forms 3800 and 3811 from a Post Office
PS Form 3800, a certified mail receipt, serves as proof that you really sent the product.
You can obtain proof of delivery by using the domestic return receipt form, PS Form 3811.
Go to your neighborhood post office, pick up each of these papers, and fill them out with your information as well as the recipient’s name and address.
2. Remove the Label and Put the Forms
This little white strip will have your package’s tracking number on it. Fold PS Form 3800 over, making sure that the dotted line is aligned with the top of the envelope or the border of the package.
Allow space on the right side for the necessary postage. The back of the envelope should have PS Form 3811 attached.
However, if you’re delivering a package, PS Forms 3800 and 3811 will both be placed on the front.
3. Pay the Costs and Postage
After stamping PS Form 3800, the clerk hands you the bottom half. You can find the details you need to trace your delivery on the USPS website in the bottom half of PS Form 3800.
Keep it somewhere secure and easily reached.
The return receipt for your parcel will be signed by the recipient when it reaches its destination, and it will be sent back to you by the postal service.
What is the Cost of Sending Certified Mail with Return Receipt?
If you want to know how much it will cost you to send a certified mail with a return receipt, here are the current prices in the table below:
| Service | Price |
| Certified Mail Fee | $4.35 |
| Electronic Delivery Confirmation Receipt | $0.90 |
| Return Receipt Green Card (Green Card) | $3.55 |
| Return Receipt Electronic Signature in PDF | $2.20 |
| First Class Postage (Metered Rate) | $0.63 |
When Do I Use a Certified Mail?
If you wish to ship a tax return to the IRS, among other things, it’s a very good idea to use the USPS-certified postal service with a return receipt.
The IRS can and will impose penalties and fines if you fail to submit your tax return by the filing deadline.
Arriving with receipts is essential to effectively fight this and avoid the costs if the IRS claims that your return was late, even when you know you mailed it on time.
While it might not be essential, this is a very inexpensive kind of insurance that helps you avoid problems with the IRS.
It might end up saving you thousands of dollars.
Can I Send a Certified Mail with an Electronic Return Receipt?
Yes, you can send a Certified Mail with an Electronic Return Receipt.
The Electronic Return Receipt performs all the functions of the hard copy return receipt but is, as you might have guessed, electronic.
As a result, the sender receives a proof of delivery letter in the form of a PDF through an email attachment instead of receiving the green card back in the mail by making this request on the USPS website.
A digital version of the recipient’s signature can be found on the proof of delivery letter.
After 60 days, it will be more difficult to recover the data. The USPS will maintain the record for two years from the date of shipping.
There are a few benefits, though. You don’t have to worry about the hard copy return receipt getting lost in the mail on its way back to you, and it is less expensive.
Certified Mail Return Receipt is a valuable service that gives your important mail more security.
It gives the sender a mailing receipt that you can use as proof of your timeliness.
