It’s the time of year when many Great White Northerners get nervous in dealing with the un-elected ‘civil’ wing of the government. This should never be the case, and yet every year we hear of these many, many conflicts, unsatisfactory dealings with the tax collection system in this country.
I am a believer in the tax system and have even paid more than my share, and have sometimes received refunds, even though I have not understood where I might have erred in reporting. Thank you for that!
Of course, I am not making any accusations here about any other instance, or any inaccuracy of the interpretations of the filing system. It’s all a misunderstanding on our part, I suggest. Or not.
The alleged real problem, I have heard it said, is that there is no transparency for this organization. They might or might not, sometimes, interpret as they choose, since they may, or may not, have written the rules in their favor. Some say. Or maybe not.
The average Citizen does not understand, or cannot afford to hire someone to interpret, the complications of the system the ‘collectors’ may, or may not, use to ‘elicit’ money from unwitting citizens. It might be, or not, akin to ‘harvesting’ the uneducated or in my case, those who are unwilling to lose everything in order to fight for an unwinnable ‘principle.’ ‘To win is still to lose.’
Hey, I was even treated with much consideration by an Agent of the department, being ‘coached’ to just pay the assessments since it would be cheaper than trying to go up against the limitless funds available to them to ‘overpower’ my case. Hey, what more can a person ask? Wasn’t that ‘just taking care of my interests’? Or not?
And the Agent even offered (as an aside, when no one else was listening) that I didn’t really owe them anything, just a little error in filing the numbers…..even a refund was due, so I should re-file……but the wheels were already turning and there was actually little anyone could do. Government, you know.
Of course, I can relate to that, and even sympathize. We all know how important it is to ‘save face’ and never admit to any errors! That’s common in all parts of our lives, isn’t it? Can you imagine the chaos? Heck, others might even demand a review of their own files! Or not. Wouldn’t that ‘send a wrong message’?
Oh, and the little clause that allows the ‘department’ to shut down arguments, based on them having a ‘time-line’ during which a citizen may argue his case…that’s perfectly understandable. Why shouldn’t they be able to do so? After all, it’s not like they don’t have more important things to do, or not. I suggest.
Yes, I can rest in the comfort, or not, of knowing that the money they took from me, knowing that they shouldn’t have, was used ‘for the good of us all’……or not. Isn’t that what is done with all our tax money? After all, the government in power has publicly proclaimed that they are operating an open, upstanding system of checks and balances. Or not.
Shouldn’t that be assurance enough? Okay, I know I regress a little from my faith in them, each day that no ‘resolution’ shows up in my mailbox.
My file is on their desk, or not, under a pile of other work that is of utmost importance to them. I know that, and am a patient kind of guy, or not.
So, my conclusion? It would matter a great deal if there was more authenticity in the government civil department. However, that’s up to us citizens to promote. Mistakes are made. So, just clean them up. That would seem to be the appropriate step. We have to create an environment where we truly understand that ‘to err is human’.
We are community. That matters.
Rich