Old Tax Refund cheque

[#1]

Hi,

Recently I've been going through old archive files of mine, and I've found an un-cashed cheque from the RBA/ATO attached to my Notice of Assessment for 2011-2012. The cheque was issued in early 2013. 

Given that this cheque is well and truly "stale", is it possible to have it re-issued or should I give it up as a lost cause?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Paulio

Don't worry - you won't have lost your money!

What happens when a cheque becomes stale is that it will be reapplied to your ATO income tax running balance account. Then most likely:

• if you have since had a debt payable (including activity statements etc) to the ATO the cheque credit would have been applied to the debt, and you would have found you had less to pay yourself when that debt became payable; or
• if you have had no debts to the ATO since, then your amount should be sitting there, ready for you to instruct the ATO how to pay it. 

You can view your income tax account by logging into myGov. You can filter the dates and locate the amount and see what happened. If you can't find your income tax account straight away, find it in TABS at the top - tax, accounts, tax accounts etc.  

If you wish to apply for a refund, then while in myGov, check  the bank details there are up to date because the ATO now prefers to pay directly to your bank account - update your financial institution details.

Then, to request a refund, contact the ATO.

Hope this helps

This is my personal view; I'm an ATO employee who chooses to help out here in my own time

[#3]

Hi @teejay 

Thanks so much for your help. After filtering my running balance I can see that it was returned once the cheque became stale, and then appears to have been automatically deposited the year I provided my EFT details. 

Cheers

[#4]

Hi @Paulio 

Good to hear!

All the best for the future

This is my personal view; I'm an ATO employee who chooses to help out here in my own time