2011 income tax refund

Call me Al

Hi, we submitted our accounts at the weekend. They had been completed by an accountant and they calculated we were due a refund. I didn't expect to hear anything back from revenue for weeks, but we got our cheque from revenue for the amount calculated by the tax accountants this morning.
Is that it???? I was expecting this to drag out but it almost seems to have been automated internally with Revenue. Can we still be audited this year? We are now fully PAYE in this house as of last month, so self assessment is a thing of the past after the 2012 accounts are completed.
As it is I am afraid to lodge the cheque in case they come looking for it back!

Duncan31

Do you think there was something dodgy about your tax return? If not, why would they look for it back?
I would assume you can still be audited though but again there should not be any major discrepancies if all was above board.

Call me Al

Duncan31 wrote: »

Do you think there was something dodgy about your tax return? If not, why would they look for it back?
I would assume you can still be audited though but again there should not be any major discrepancies if all was above board.

No there is nothing dodgy. We have an accountant who has completed the accounts correctly as far as i am aware (my husband was contracting so cashflows were all done monthly). I just expected it to take much longer and for them to probe much further. The documentation was only submitted on Sunday evening and we had been told it could take up to 12 weeks. I never expected the turnaround to be all done and dusted in 3 days!!! That is why I am apprehensive.
The cheque is lodged lodged now anyway.

I am not complaining btw lest anyone think I am!

allthedoyles

Its hard to believe that the cheque you received today is in relation to documents submitted on Sunday .

Shane732

It's self assessment.

I imagine the refund was probably small enough?

Call me Al

Shane732 wrote: »

It's self assessment.

I imagine the refund was probably small enough?

Not that small. To us anyway. Maybe to some...

I am used to getting balancing statements in the past for a couple of hundred euro, if that. We're much happier this time around.

barneystinson

Call me Al wrote: »

Not that small. To us anyway. Maybe to some...

I am used to getting balancing statements in the past for a couple of hundred euro, if that. We're much happier this time around.

I don't understand what the question / mystery here is?

Assuming the return is filed on ROS (Revenue Online Service), as Shane732 said it's self-assessment so the assessment will issue automatically within 24 hours, and the cheque will issue within another 24 hours. Surely that's just common sense, and the entire point of having automated systems in place...

Call me Al

You will have to excuse my ignorance as this is our first time completing a self-assessment process and we are unfamiliar with the process. I genuinely was not aware if this an automated process within revenue or not, hence my reference to this in an earlier post. In addition, we were also told the whole thing could take 12 weeks.

Thank you for the clarification.

NewApproach

Given the time of year it's pretty standard for the cheque to issue within a few days. You may be audited, if at all most likely within the next year or two, so keep any books/records you have. However the likelihood of any audit is slim if there's nothing out of the ordinary in your IT return.