U.S. Postal Service Raises Forever Stamp Price to 82 Cents on July 12

The U.S. Postal Service will raise the price of a Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents beginning Sunday, July 12, 2026. Forbes reported that the change represents the eighth increase in five years.

The IRS announced a new Automatic Exemption from Penalty process to replace First Time Abate. Qualifying taxpayers with a strong three-year compliance history will receive relief from certain failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, and failure-to-deposit penalties during return processing without submitting a request. The change applies to eligible 2025 returns and 2026 quarterly filings.

Forbes reported that an estimated one million taxpayers each year previously qualified for First Time Abate but did not receive it because they did not know to request relief. The underlying tax and interest remain due under the new process. In Kwong v.

United States, the Court of Federal Claims ruled that the tax code automatically extended certain federal tax deadlines throughout the COVID-19 disaster period. Forbes reported that the deadline for most protective refund claims tied to the ruling was July 10, 2026.

Just before that date, the IRS added an electronic filing option for certain Forms 843 for individual taxpayers, though business taxpayers must still file on paper and abatement claims require the traditional paper process.

The IRS received 311,332 gift tax returns in 2025, down from 516,991 in 2023. As of June 4, 2026, the agency had received nearly six million elections to open child savings accounts under Trump accounts. The lifetime gift and estate tax exemption stands at $15 million.

Treasury and the IRS finalized regulations treating certain abusive charitable remainder annuity trust arrangements as listed transactions. The standard deduction for tax year 2026 is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. The due date for 2026 third-quarter estimated tax payments is September 15, 2026.