Letter from Boston National Deadline By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
国をあげての締め切り 4月15日はアメリカの所得申告の最終日。雅子さんは学生ですが収入があるので、申告しなければなりません。面倒な申告に備えて、税金百科を買って読んではみるのですが…。申告のために奮闘する雅子さんが、アメリカの納税について紹介せてくれます。

For most Americans, the date April 15 is of extreme importance. I'm not speaking about a religious or national holiday. This event transcends religion and patriotism. It's a universal event because it concerns money: it's the day that tax returns are due.

There is nothing like a strict deadline to get people going. Although residents are given plenty of time to do the requisite paperwork, there are always stragglers rushing to the post office to get their returns postmarked April 15. As a matter of fact, last year I saw a picture of a post office worker standing on a busy street collecting tax returns that drivers held out of their car windows. Express mail services such as UPS and FedEx get a lot of business during this season as well.

Taxes are withheld from the paychecks of most salaried workers, whether or not they are citizens. However, many people are eligible to get a refund from the government. Employers often overestimate the amount that they should withhold for taxes, so employees can reclaim what has been overpaid to the government. In many cases, taxpayers have numerous deductions that they can make, which leads to a smaller tax bill. I know that some foreign students in my department get huge refunds because their respective national governments have signed treaties with the United States so that they are exempt from paying the full income tax amount.

On the other hand, there are people, like myself, who not only do not expect a refund, but who must pay money to the government when tax day rolls around. None of my sources of income has already withheld taxes. This means that I have to calculate my total income and write a check to the government. There are millions of Americans who need to fill out only one form to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As a matter of fact, many people file taxes over the phone or by e-mail. I have to fill out five or six forms. Each form requires a certain amount of research — as well as a lot of time sifting through personal financial records. I've been finding it very difficult to start doing the paperwork, much less to figure out how to do it all properly and efficiently.

As I said, many people expect a refund after they file their taxes. What everyone fears, however, is getting a letter from the IRS instead of a check. Some taxpayers are selected by the IRS to be audited. This means that a representative from the IRS will look more closely at the details of some people's finances. If a person makes too many deductions, or shows signs of having a lot more income than that officially reported, she or he may be targeted for an audit.

Although truly scary IRS horror stories circulate and achieve legendary status, for the most part it seems that even getting audited isn't too much of a big deal. Of course, it can be a big deal if it involves secret bank accounts in Switzerland or under-the-table drug money, but most people's lives aren't that exotic. I think it's fair to say that most people commit some sort of mistake in calculating their taxes (either from ignorance, sloppiness or white-lie dishonesty), but it seems that trespasses can usually be remedied simply by paying a fine. It doesn't seem that many of those who are caught are prosecuted for criminal tax evasion.

The only thing worse than being faced with a pile of tax forms from the U.S. government is being faced with another stack from the Massachusetts state government. Alas, my pile of Massachusetts tax forms is no smaller than that of my federal tax forms. Some lucky Americans — such as those living in the neighboring state of New Hampshire — don't have to pay state taxes. On the other hand, some unlucky ones have to pay city taxes in addition to federal and state taxes.

I've purchased an encyclopedic book on taxes to consult on the details of filing. It's written in such dry, ambiguous language that even I --a native English speaker — can't help getting sleepy while reading it. One would think that it would be easy for a person who is working on a doctor's degree in the sciences, but it definitely isn't. Filing taxes is tedious and intimidating. And it's difficult to achieve the right balance between maximizing personal income and doing the right thing — all the more reason to put off thinking about it until the 14th.

Shukan ST: April 17, 1998

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