Giddy Tigers

Last Thursday, I received this letter.  A letter that I had been waiting for, for a LONG LONG time.  I tore it open and very nearly kissed the check that was contained in it.  You see, after receiving the first check from the IRB a few weeks ago, I really had not expected this second one (the more important one for very obviou$ rea$on$) to come so soon.

Here’s the chronology of events, the length of which just goes to show how pushing and pestering can make things go your way (sometimes):

• Submitted by income tax returns in 2010 before the dateline for Year of Assessment 2009.  The computation of my income tax returns showed a credit balance, meaning the IRB owes me money.
• A week after submission, I received a letter from the IRB stating that they have noted the “Baki Kredit” but will not be processing it as soon as expected because they needed to conduct some investigations on the calculation.
• Month after month passed without a word from the IRB.  So in October of 2010, I gave them a call, and asked to speak to the officer in charge of my file.  A Miss S told me she would check and let me know who the officer was.
• I called back and was told that Pn Z was the officer in charge.  I was given Pn Z’s extension so I could deal directly with her.
• Upon calling Pn Z, she said that my file number needed to be changed from SG to OG first in order for them to process the credit balance.  She also mentioned that my file was possibly going to be audited too, but the change in file number had to be completed first.  So she said she would put the change through the works, and that all further queries should go to Mr Y.
• I called up Mr Y a week later and he told me my file was already in the process of change.  The person in charge was Mr W, and I should call up a week later to check with Mr W.
• When I was unable to contact Mr W after several weeks, I called Mr Y again, and this time he told me Mr W was about to retire in 3 days’ time!  So he directed me to call En A instead.  (my file’s passing through SO many different hands!)
• Now En A told me that for my case, I needed to check with the Bahagian Pungutan since it is a payback case.
• However, upon calling the Bahagian Pungutan, and upon checking my file’s status in their system, I was told that the Bahagian Pungutan could not do anything just yet, because my file had been flagged off for auditing.
• So I called En A back again, and told him what the Bahagian Pungutan guy said.  En A then told me he would pass my file to one of his staff, a Pn N.
• Pn N, however, told me that she wasn’t aware of the fact that my file was under her care, but nevertheless she checked for me.  And then she told me that the payback should not be a problem once she checks and sees that everything is okay.  She told me she would call me back.  Of course she never did.
• When I called her again a few weeks later, and could not get through, her co-worker told me she had left for maternity leave!  Aarrrrghhhh!!!  Upon further checking, her co-worker again told me that my file was marked for auditing, but I told her that I had yet to receive any notice from IRB on the audit.  So she suggested I forward the relevant documents to her dept head (En A) for speedier processing.
• Just to be certain, I called En A again a few days later, and told him that Pn N was on maternity leave.  He told me that he would pass my file to someone else, and that someone else would call me within the week.  Of course no one called me.
• So I called En A again the following week, but there was no answer.
• After 2 weeks of no answer, I called the IRB on April 25th and asked for the status of my payback.  The guy on the line told me that the status was “Finalized”.  Huh?  “What does that mean?” I asked.  He says it meant that they had checked and verified and that the process was being handled by the Repayment Unit now. *sees light at the end of tunnel*
• I then called the Repayment Unit and asked how long it would take for the check to arrive.  The lady checked and told me that my credit balance had just recently been approved (April 18th), and my account had been finalized  Since the check is sent from KL, it would take about 2 weeks to arrive.  Just to make doubly sure, I asked her for the check amount to countercheck that it was correct.
• And so, approximately 2.5 weeks later, the letter arrived.  The months and months of phone calls had been worthwhile after all.

By the way, if you are wondering, yes, I wrote down all the names and extension numbers as a reference each time I called them. 🙂

I’m SO happy that I didn’t have to go through the audit, although I had all the documents ready on hand.  So thankful that this could all be settled without me having to stress myself out looking for a parking space at Weld Quay.  And I am so overjoyed that my check will be clearing within the next 2 days! Wheeeee!!!