Tax Day
Today is Tax Day for me. I mean, the day I submit my documents and apply for an income tax refund (a “zeikin kanpu”). It’s a regular February chore and one more thing to check off my calendar. I always go to the Tax Consultation Office for Nakano, Suginami and Shinjuku Wards (which is set up each February-March in a Shinjuku location) because the language is so challenging, I need assistance. This year it was in a different place than what I’m familiar with, a new place. For the last several years I've been going to the NEWoMan office building in South Shinjuku. But this year the center was set up in Sumitomo Hall, in the basement of the Sumitomo Building in West Shinjuku, just across the street from “Tocho,” Tokyo City Hall, a short walk from JR Shinjuku Station. It was easy to find.
I arrived early, at 8:15 a.m., and I walked out at 10:30 a.m., which is typical of previous experiences. The doors opened at 8:30 a.m., and business commenced at 9:15 a.m. The place was not crowded when I arrived (I was number 9), and it was still not crowded when I left. But it hosted some steady, brisk business in the meantime - Japanese people who knew better than me what they were about. Maybe as the window for filing tax refund claims comes to an end more people will scramble there for help.
Everything - the signs, the paperwork, the instructions and queries from staff - is in language that’s way above my head. But I deal with it by arriving early and giving myself more than enough time, by following the signs, by watching what other people do, by using as much language as I can, and by having ALL my documents and ALL my identification in order. Beyond that, I rely on the staff like an infirm patient relies on a nurse.