Income Tax Returns and Refund

Two very interesting things happened today - both are excellent examples of how things should not be.

I got my first income tax refund today. I was glad that ultimately I got a refund. I was all very excited to open the envelope, as I was hoping that I will find a cheque inside. Although I manage my taxes well and generally dont exceed the actual tax, some time way back in 2005-06, I had paid some 1K extra tax. This refund was for the same year. My excitement was short lived as the cheque was already invalid. It was more than 6 months old.

I was preparing all the paper-work for this years IT-returns when I noticed that my wife was given only 7K of deduction instead of 70K in the ELSS segment. I was shocked. I asked my wife to raise the issue with her finance dept. As expected, the reply was -

"अम्ह. एक ज़ीरो ही तो मिस किया है. अगले रीफन्ड मे ले लेना."

Both are excellent examples of carelessness.