The TV is continually showing adverts for products/services to help you fill in your tax return at the moment. Clearly this is a big industry. And today I discovered one reason why.
Last year I did a small amount of paid work at Westminster, marking Greek tests. I earned less than $100 total. I paid some small fraction of this in taxes, but I'm very happy to write it off as not worth the hassle. However, one of the pieces of paper in my 'Welcome to Westminster' pack states that all international students have to file a tax return.
So today, I went to see the International Student Co-ordinator to see if this really is the case or if it's just that 'international students are not exempt from filing tax returns'. She wasn't sure and was just as confused by the information on the IRS website as I was. So she very kindly phoned the help line and after being put on hold twice finally spoke to someone who said they couldn't just give a decision, they'd need to ask me lots of questions.
Susan handed the phone over and the woman asked exactly the same questions Susan had just answered for me. Then she looked up the form. All student on F or J visas earning less than $100,000 must fill in form 1040EZ. I said that this seemed like an extraordinary waste of time and money. She told me that it wasn't a waste, it was the law.
To which I really wanted to reply, 'Well in that case, the law is an ass.' But she didn't sound to me like she'd read a lot of Dickens.
So not only do I now have to file the form, I also have to complete extra paperwork every time I leave and enter the country. Great.
http://www.icarusredeemed.blogspot.com
06/02/07 @ 19:25