- I Paid A Bribe
- 12 years ago
- 714 views
Paid bribe to get tax refund money back having changed residence and missed it the first time
- Income Tax
- Income Tax Refund
- Paid INR 200
I had filed my IT returns sometime around Sep 2011 for the prior two years (which makes it late, for both the years). By the time the original refund cheques came, I had shifted residence and hence missed both the cheques. They were returned to the IT department. I found out through the agent who had originally filed the returns that I had to go to the IT Assesment centre designated for my town, to apply for re-issue of the refund amounts. This centre was in another town. After this, over a period of 6 months, I went to this other town twice, each trip taking 1 hour each way. Effectively, I spent 2 whole days in this. The first visit turned out to be useless, as I couldn't do much with whatever little information that I managed to get. The second time, I was determined to get enough answers to never have to go back another time. I was able to convey my issue effectively to the IT officer and was told to submit a request letter giving the details and asking for re-issue of refund. The officer assured me that this was enough to get the refund within a month and also gave me a signed and stamped copy of the letter as a receipt of my request. Everything went well, except for the fact that before I talked to the IT officer, I talked to another guy who was supposed be the office superintendent (a post apparently beneath that of the IT officer) there, about my issue. After my meeting with the IT officer was over, this other guy "demanded" some amount for the work to be done "quicker than usual". I gave in after a few seconds and regret it even now, as it was my first time ever giving a bribe.
I did not get any refund for 3 months after that. I called up the IT officer, who after doing some checking in the system, told that he had now updated something and said I should now get the cheques in a few days. And, presto!, I did get one cheque in the next 3-4 days. So all he had to do was, update some info, which took his assistant a few seconds while he was on the call with me, and the cheque was despatched. So frustrating that I waited this long for getting a change, which takes but a few seconds, done. To frustrate furthur, he did the change only for one year, so I did not get the second year cheque for another couple of weeks. I had to call him again for doing the same for the second year also. Finally after more than 3 months after submitting my claim letter, I got both the cheques (and lost the bribe amount and maybe some amount of self-pride).