Will a one year old cheque from the taxman, hm revenue&customs still be okay to cash?

[Hoya]

I recently found a cheque amongst my letters from last year which was tax owed, do these have an expiry date on them or can they be cashed anytime?

[Old_Geezer]

Unlikely. You will probably have to ask for a replacement. But you can try it and see if you like.

[ummmm]

Phone them. They should re-issue another one.

[JoolsTwo]

I think you would have to ask them to re-issue the check. I think it has to be presented within 6 months.

[JoolsTwo]

Cheque ...even

[MarkRae]

Six months, I believe.

[owdhamer]

ring and ask ,and oh what about the interest

[ummmm]

With interest rates so low you'd bother anyway?

[TheNovice]

bank rules are 6 months for all cheques with the exception of share dividend cheques which are valid for 12 months.

[spudqueen]

I'm not entirely certain but I think that cheques from the taxman may only be valid for 3 months. If so it will say so on the cheque. Otherwise they are valid for 6 months.

[Skyline D]

The "cheques are only valid for six months" thing is one of the most perpetrated urban myths out there. Cheques are legally valid for six years. The issuing bank may have a policy not to honour those over six months old supposing they happen to notice (which they usually don't on hand written cheques) but it's perfectly legal to bank it.

The HMRC cheque is probably machine printed in which case they may be more likely to pick up the date being more than six months. Safest thing to do is phone them and ask them, however it wouldn't do any harm to try to cash it. I'd bet it will go through.