IT Refund - Cheque Received with Date Altered

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Utkrusht

24 Points Posted on 07 May 2011

7th May 2011.

Dear Esteemed CA Professionals,

My company received a refund cheque yesterday of approximately 1.9 lakhs Rs from the Income tax Department Mumbai for AY 09 10 with the Cheque date as 31.03.2010 by Speed Post. The cheque has been posted on 4th May 2011 in Mumbai.

Cheque has been prepared manually (it is not a computerised cheque) and is payable on SBI Main branch.

The Refund Amount is exactly as per our submitted IT Returns. There is no other letter or order received along with the cheque.

However, Closer examination of the cheque reveals that the original date of the cheque was 31.03.2011.

The last digit '1' of the year 2011 has been overwritten by '0' (the original '1' is still visible) to make the date appear as 31.03.2010 instead of 31.03.2011.

Also, the cheque has a preprinted message on the left hand side that states that it is valid only for 3 months from the date of issue. Hence, the cheque automatically gets invalidated.

The cheque is hand written and has been signed and stamped by the ITO of our relevant IT office.

We plan to approach the ITO in the coming week and ask him to correct the date and put his signature / stamp against the corrected date.

Our query is that is this procedure correct ? Should we send just the cheque or also a letter in writing to the ITO ?

Will the ITO agree to make the correction or will he issue us a new cheque ? How much time will it take ? Will we be harassed for some speed money to get a fresh cheque issued ?

Is there any action a genuine tax payer can take to avoid such mistakes in the future ?

All responses appreciated sincerely.

Thanks in advance.

Utkrusht, Mumbai.

Replies (8)

CA Sankalp Patwa

193 Points Posted on 07 May 2011

hiiiiiiii

i am ipcc pass student

i have done my franking ie agreement for articleship on 11th march 2011 but due to the problem of lost marksheet i am not registered for articleship

if i register before 11th of may with a late fee of Rs . 100 what would be the final attempt i will get

U S Sharma

glidor@gmail.com

21068 Points Posted on 07 May 2011

1) get your income tax assessment order cum refund advise

2) surrender the cheque to ITO with facts and request to "issue a new cheque" , bank will not accept altered cheques as per new banking norms.

3) you may be eligible to get interest for delayed payment by the department.

tme s limted,bt drms r unlmtd

Mba ( fin.) Ca final Student

257 Points Posted on 07 May 2011

surrender the cheque to the income tax authority and request for new cheque and also demand for interest

it is advisable to take the photocopy of the cheque with you for future reference..

Amol Gopal Kabra (CA,CS,DISA)

Practicing CA

8639 Points Posted on 07 May 2011

The cheque may have been altered for speedy money. But you can approach the ITO alongwith the original cheque, an application for altering / issuing fresh cheque. But make sure you have the photy copy of the cheque for your future referrence. I think if yuo apply for the same the ITO will issue you another cheque. If he ever tries to harrass you, you may refer the matter to the help desk.

Harsimran Singh

Student

204 Points Posted on 08 May 2011

@ Utkrusht

Send them the cheque along with a letter demanding interest on it.

Its upto the department to revalidate the cheque or issue a new cheque to your company.

and yes as per above gentleman said keep a photocopy for future refrences.

CA AJAY SONI

PROPREITOR

39 Points Posted on 09 May 2011

Hey, the ways suggested by above gentleman are correct. But the another way to correct the Cheque, if you require urgent money is to approach ITO by whom Cheque is issued and asked him for correction for reason mentioned above. He will make correction in Date immediately and put his Signature and Stamp on it. This is the simpliest procedure rather than indulging in writing Letter and then waiting for Department to take action. In this might be 2-3 months delay can be there. In any case Keep Photocopy of Original Cheque issued to you.

Amol Gopal Kabra (CA,CS,DISA)

Practicing CA

8639 Points Posted on 09 May 2011

The way I suggested doesnot take 2-3 months. The refund cheque to be rectified requires an application to be made along with. Even if you follow the I have said you, you can get the altered cheque / fresh cheque within 2-3 working days.