Wait, what? Rs 1,130 cheque issued by Income Tax department bounces

Sunita Pathak, a resident of Colaba, did not think much when the cheque issued by the Income Tax department was returned to her from the bank.

According to this article in Mumbai Mirror, a cheque for Rs 1,130 towards tax refund was issued by the Income Tax department last January. But when Pathak’s chartered accountant pointed out, she realised that the I-T department did not even have a thousand bucks in their account to pay the 35-year-old.

“It is such a petty amount. That there is no money with the I-T Department despite several lakhs of rupees being collected in taxes is strange,” Pathak told Mumbai Mirror.

The incident was shocking for both the banks and the chartered accountants who have been dealing with tax-filing and tax-returns for many years now. According to the chartered accountants, most tax payers received their refunds via electronic money transfer.

When asked to comment, officials at the Income Tax department were equally shocked. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror they said, “This is not normal.We have never heard of any cheque issued by us bouncing. Such things should be immediately brought to our notice. The assessee should write to concerned officer or approach the helpdesk.”