(a) Filing by Mail. Except as otherwise provided in this Section 6.9-6, taxpayers may file any return or other document with or make any payment to the Tax Collector by United States mail.
(b) Date of Postmark. The date of postmark shall be deemed the date of filing for any return or other document, or any payment, delivered to the Tax Collector by United States mail if:
(1) The postmark is made by the United States Postal Service;
(2) The postmark date falls within the prescribed period, or on or before the prescribed date, including any extension, for filing the return or other document, or for making the payment;
(3) The return or other document, or the payment, was, within that time, deposited in the mail in the United States in an envelope or other appropriate wrapper, postage prepaid and properly addressed to the Tax Collector; and
(4) The Tax Collector receives the return or other document, or the payment, as a result of the timely mailing.
The Tax Collector may provide by regulation for application of this rule to postmarks not made by the United States Postal Service.
(c) Registered and Certified Mailing. The registration of any return or other document, or payment, delivered to the Tax Collector by registered mail shall be prima facie evidence that the return or other document, or payment, was filed with the Tax Collector, and the date of registration shall be deemed the postmark date. The Tax Collector may provide by regulation for the application of this subsection to returns or other documents, or payments, delivered to the Tax Collector by certified mail.
(d) Exceptions. This Section shall not apply to:
(1) The filing of a document in, or the making of a payment to, any court;
(2) Currency or other medium of payment unless actually received and accounted for; or
(3) Returns or other documents, or payments, which are required under any provision of the Business and Tax Regulations Code or of the Tax Collector's regulations to be delivered or filed by any method other than by mailing.
(e) Private Delivery Services. References in this Section 6.9-6 to the United States mail and a postmark of the United States Postal Service shall include any designated delivery service and any date recorded or marked as described herein by any designated delivery service.
(1) A "designated delivery service" means any delivery service provided by a trade or business if such service is designated by the Tax Collector for purposes of this Section. The Tax Collector may designate a delivery service only if he or she determines that such service:
(A) Is available to the general public;
(B) Is at least as timely and reliable on a regular basis as the United States mail;
(C) Records electronically to its database, kept in the regular course of its business, or marks on the cover in which any item referred to in this Section is to be delivered or filed, the date on which such item was given to such trade or business for delivery; and
(D) Meets such other criteria as the Tax Collector may prescribe.
(2) The Tax Collector may provide a rule similar to the rule of subsection (e)(1) with respect to any service provided by a designated delivery service which is substantially equivalent to the United States registered or certified mail.