Unexpected tax refund from Revenue

I'm a PAYE worker, and submitted a Form 12 for the 2004 tax year to Revenue last October along with a cheque for approx €1,000 for income tax owing due to exercising some share options during that year. The cheque was subsequently processed by Revenue and they issued me with a receipt in December. However, today to my surprise they have issued me a tax refund cheque for the exact same amount, but they have not included any explanation as to why they are refunding me this money! Now, we all know Revenue are currently awash with money, but I didn't expect their generosity to extend as far refunding my tax....

As far as I'm concerned I've fulfilled my legal obligation by filing my tax return on time and paying the tax I owe in full. Their decision to refund me looks like a mistake on their part, and I'm very tempted to use this to my advantage, and cash the cheque.

Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience? or if anyone has advice from a legal perspective regarding my entitlement to this money??

Frame the cheque!
You have excercised all your responsibilities.

If you are not actually entitled to the refund then you should return it as they may come looking for it back. However maybe it's not a mistake and you are, in fact, entitled to it? Maybe sanity checking your income tax using [broken link removed] against the figures on your P60 for the relevant year would throw some light on this?

Did you specifically state the cheque was for 2004 on your payslip? If not, the Collector Generals may have assumed it was preliminary tax for 2005 or it may just have gone against the wrong year. Did you get a notice of assessment or balancing statment showing the refund, or just the cheque?

It might be better if you phoned your tax office and spoke to them about it, at least then you will know for definite if the refund is genuine or an error.

The tax was certainly due for 2004 (i.e. I sold the shares in that year), and I sent in the cheque along with my Form 12 for 2004 tax year last October.

As far as I'm concerned I have fulfilled all my obligations by filing my tax return on time. They appear to have made a mistake by refunding me the tax paid, therefore it's their loss.

As I see it the worst case scenario is that they uncover their mistake at a later date, and ask for the money back then. However, I cannot see how I could be held liable for any interest or penalties because as stated above I have fulfilled all my obligations by filing my tax return on time.