Semanticspeak

The communication is addressed by the H.O. to its branch office. "The return is not in hand"-everything is in third party reporting format. It is the fault of the return that it is not yet in hand. Here the branch has not failed to submit  it but only the return is not in hand. The imperative is to ensure that the needful is done. As to what is the needful, the branch ought to know.

 "at the earliest" is vague about the expected date of the receipt of the return. Perhaps the H.O. is not very serious about the receipt per return of post .There is still room for the branch to decide about the dispatch date and the branch  should ensure that the matter is accorded top priority.

In office communications it is only the inanimate things like "returns,' "matter","needful" seem to be moving and active  with self-propelled locomotion. Human beings are self-effacing.