Why does the IRS have its own zip codes in the United States?
In: 76
That’s not unusual.
* The Pentagon has five ZIP codes, for five different parts of the military.
* The ZIP code “12345” refers to a GE plant in Schenectady, New York. As far as I can tell, the code refers (or used to refer) to a single building.
* The Empire State Building has its own ZIP code. So do *more than forty* individual buildings in New York.
* Some universities have their own ZIP code. For example, Stanford has two: one for campus mail, and one for P.O. boxes.
The purpose of ZIP codes is to efficiently route mail. The assignment of ZIP codes, and their granularity, depends on how best to deliver mail to people. It would be annoying for everybody involved if both the IRS and the folks who live in houses nearby had to use the same post office. It makes more sense to put the IRS’s mail into its own truck(s) and deliver it straight to the source. I mean, that’s what they would do anyways, but having a separate ZIP code makes that more “official” and integrated better with the rest of their logistics.
It’s also helped by the fact that most of these organizations have their own internal delivery services. You gotta imagine the IRS has hundreds of interns lugging faxes back and forth, and ditto the Empire State Building must have something for delivering packages to the 40th floor or whatever. The postal branches that serve those orgs are specialized to their needs.
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