If you have a tax reimbursement rider in your USPS lease, it’s up to you to request a reimbursement. For tax riders prior to 1998, USPS will typically not pay special assessments; however, USPS will pay for assessments in leases that contain the tax rider dated 1998 or later.
Currently, the Postal Service reimburses taxes only once per year, regardless of the number of taxing authorities (school, town, county, etc.) Check your tax rider. USPS does not pay fines, penalties, interest or late payments. If you have numerous taxing authorities, which are due at varying times during the year, it’s best to be organized.
1. Keep a calendar of your tax due date(s) to ensure you are timely with your reimbursement request as USPS is not required to reimburse landlords if the request is submitted 18 months after the close of the tax year. If you don’t receive a bill, call the tax collector because not getting a bill is not an acceptable excuse for not paying your taxes. Be sure to request a receipt when you pay your taxes and enclose a postage-paid envelope. Or, in some cases, tax collectors will not mail receipts, but suggest you go online for proof of payment. Make copies of everything for your files.
2. When you have receipts from all taxing agencies, write to the USPS regional office to request reimbursement. Enclose copies of your tax bills and tax receipts. Your cancelled check(s) will serve as proof of payment in case you don’t have a receipt.
3. USPS must reimburse within 30 days of receipt of the proper documents. If your rent comes electronically, so will your reimbursement. Currently, the bank statement will not include the name of the post office; you will only know you have received an electronic tax reimbursement when you can match the deposit amount to the reimbursement owed to you. This is important if you own several post offices as the reimbursement will be consolidated into one payment if submitted simultaneously.
4. USPS will consider tax reimbursements as part of the rent and will include monies paid in the 1099 it sends to lessors.
If your preference is to eliminate the tax rider altogether, contact the USPS leasing team leader in your area. He or she will consider amending the lease to eliminate the tax rider and compensate the cost by increasing the rent.