State Property: Returning Salary Overpayments Received by Mistake

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

State Property: Returning Salary Overpayments Received by Mistake

English:

Question #1942:

I work for a government department. On one occasion, I received, by mistake, three times the salary that is normally due to me. At the time, I informed the accountant of the department. However, I have not returned the extra money I received by mistake, in spite of the fact that four years have already passed since I received the money which was a part of yearly budget. How should I go about returning the money?

Answer #1942:

The accountant’s mistake cannot be deemed a shar‘ī reason to take the extra amount you received without being entitled to it. You are, therefore, required to return the erroneously received money plus compensation for decrease in purchasing power of the money to the department concerned, albeit it belongs to the budget of previous years.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of State Property