Refunds of Permit Postage and Fees – Merrifield, VA, Post Office
Background
The Merrifield, VA, Post Office is in the Virginia District of the Atlantic Area. Business Reply Mail (BRM) is a service provided by the Postal Service that enables a sender to provide a recipient with a convenient, prepaid method for replying to a mailing. Permit holders request refunds when postage has been applied to the prepaid mailing. To obtain a refund, permit holders must submit postage affixed BRM, and the required Postal Service (PS) Form 3533, Application for Refund of Fees, Products and Withdrawal of Customer Accounts. The Postal Service assesses fees to process the refunds and deducts them from the customer’s refund amount.
OIG data analytics identified Merrifield, VA, Post Office permit postage refunds totaling about $179,613 for fiscal year (FY) 2020. In addition, we identified some months with unusually high refunds. The objective of this audit was to determine whether postage affixed BRM refunds were properly issued, supported, and processed at the Merrifield, VA, Post Office.