So it's tax season here in the US with everybody scrambling to get their taxes submitted by the April 18th deadline. Mr B is no exception, and whilst he has had some help in completing them in this his first year, he is still liable for their submission. Simple, you would think? Just a click of the mouse or at the very worst, an old fashioned envelope with a stamp popped in the mailbox? Sadly dear reader, you would be wrong. At his final meeting with his tax advisor last week, he was advised that as Ethan is listed as a dependent on Mr B's tax form, he would be required to submit in person at the nearest IRS office (a 40 minute drive away), taking Ethan with him to prove that he actually existed. Sorry, what?! *sighs defeatedly* (is that a word?)
Back in the UK, I used to complete both our self assessment tax returns and was completely familiar with the process. All fairly straightforward, completed online and usually took just under an hour to submit for us both. Here, not only is it way more complicated, (especially as a 'resident alien') ... in addition to the main Federal taxes you also have to complete and file State taxes ... but also I am completely out of the loop and have no clue how it all works here and therefore unable to help or double check that nothing was missing etc. Mr B assured me though that it was all taken care of and all that was needed now was my signature on the last page. OK great!
In order to avoid any more missed time off school, Mr B decided he would collect Ethan from school on Friday (as school finishes at 1.10pm on a Friday) and drive straight there. Off he went armed with forms, passports, cheque book etc ... Like all other US Government Offices that we have had to deal with since moving here - DMV, Immigration, Social security etc. - the IRS operates in exactly the same way ... no appointments are available, you have to just turn up, take a number and wait .... and wait, and wait.
They arrived just before 2pm, completed the usual security checks ... surrender all weapons, turn off cell phones, screen bags, go through body scanner ... and were advised to join the loooooooong queue of people waiting to see one of the preliminary officers who would then allocate a number to determine their priority amongst the sea of other poor sods who looked about ready to take root. After 30 minutes, they finally reached the clerk and waited patiently for the woman in front to finish her rant at the impassive IRS employee. It seems that she was wanting to pay her taxes with old fashioned cash, but 'the man who dealt with cash payments' wasn't in (?!) so she could only pay online or by cheque. Seriously? She was not amused apparently and after ranting at the IRS officer for another 10 minutes she finally slammed her paperwork on the counter and stormed off. I would have been equally miffed I have to say, especially after having waited for hours on end (the average wait time was 3 hours ... !!!). When Mr B and Youngest finally got to the window they were advised matter-of-fact-ly that they were not able to process any more of the type of filing he needed to submit because it was 'too late in the day and they closed at 4pm' adding helpfully that he would 'probably want to avoid Friday as it was the busiest day' ... no shit Sherlock! Arrrrggghhh!! As Mr B is now travelling from Sunday to Thursday next week and then the same the week after that only leaves a Friday or ... erm ... a Friday to file before the deadline. Quite frankly I would have lost the plot by now, but Mr B managed to keep his temper in check and determined from said IRS officer that he could file at an 'approved agent's' office instead (for a fee obviously) and passed him a list under the window.
Mr B scanned the list to see where the nearest listed agent was ... now let's see ... ah yes, here we are .... the nearest one is .... Oh. Right opposite Ethans school ...great ... After a quick phone call to explain his predicament and enquire whether could see him that afternoon ... "well, we are fully booked ... it's tax season you know?!" ... they took pity on him and promised to squeeze him in at 4pm.
Several hours and several hundred dollars later ... oh, plus the $195 charge from the 'approved agent' (I did ask Mr B later what they were called ... R Hood & Company perhaps?... Ripoff & Scarper?) they arrived home looking shifty.
"Did you get it all done?" I asked
"Erm ... kind of ..."
"What do you mean kind of?"
"Erm, well we were able to do most of it but there was one other place on the form where we were both supposed to sign and so you just need to pop in next week to sign ..."
"So what would have happened if you had arrived at the IRS office earlier in the day and waited 3 hours to see someone only to then find that there was a signature missing?"
"Er .... well .... er ...."
Good grief.
I hope you all have a great week and look forward to seeing you back here next time!
TTFN
Bev x
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