Tax Returns Japanese Style

Picture this. Average workers don't have to file a return because their employers do it for them. They get a simple form at work in November, list their deductions and hand it back in at work. The office staff does the rest.

If you have more than one employer, you do have to file a return. It's fairly straight forward and entails filling out a simple, one-page form. You can file online, by mail, or go down to the tax office and do it in person. If you choose the latter, you get your own cubicle with step-by-step instructions, an adding machine, and a bunch of pencils, erasers and pens. People in blue jackets wander around the room giving advice as needed, in fact they'll do your taxes for you.

As a foreigner with middling Japanese skills, I figured I'd go down to the tax office give the income tax form my best shot. I was surrounded by the aged and senile, retired folk who had to file their own taxes. I started plodding through a color coded instruction pamphlet that seemed to be written for a junior high school audience. Do parents in Japan have their kids do their taxes for them? I wanted to see if I could navigate through the tax form by myself, but whenever I slowed down, a guy in a blue jacket would show up and talk me through to the next step. He effectively did my taxes for me and 20 minutes later I was back on the street.Ta