Pouring Over Tax Forms
Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Dedicated to all my friends in the U.S. of A., (especially Tyler Monson of O.R.A. and Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer, the latter even half-heartedly interrupting blogging for this occasion), sweating now filling out their tax forms.
1981, after having finished my service in the German army, I started for a lengthy trip through Nepal and India. Extending the visa in both countries was no problem, leaving Nepal was easy as well, just India took it more seriously: Administration was functioning well (and I was warned beforehand), so before being allowed to leave the country after a trip exceeding the simple tourist 3 month period, I had to go to the tax office in Tiruchirapally and meet the officer in charge. My memories are already somewhat faint, but the office was in a semi-high-riser concrete building, dusty and hot even in India winter, and after some benevolent conversation and filing of forms, I received that tax clearance certificate. The original forms were put in a folder, wrapped with official two-color thread and put into the filing room, where I grasped just a glimps of the piles of files in there – I did’t dare to ask to take a picture at that time.
Anyhow, in comparison to the tax form work I have to do now every year, this really was the most pain free one.