Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

[jl_merrow]

Well, yes, down to London, but not, in fact, to see her Maj. Instead, josephine_myles and I went down to the US Embassy, to see if we could get ourselves some of those new-fangled US tax numbers all the cool kids are wearing these days.

We could, it has to be said, have picked our day better. First, we had to negotiate airport-style security (josephine_myles being forced to drink out of her almost-empty water bottle to prove that it wasn't a highly volatile explosive cunningly masquerading as Highland Spring; josephine_myles having to remove her deadly ninja hair clip before being allowed through; me standing there smugly going "there's always one"). I particularly appreciated the cartoon-style "No bombs" illustration on the door, for the benefit of those persons who might have thought the US embassy positively welcomed explosives. Then, we had to wait around 2 hours to see the IRS guy, the embassy apparently being short-staffed today. On the other hand, we could have picked our day worse: yesterday, they weren't even open, a fact I don't recall having been mentioned on the website...

Still, we had plenty of time to chat (what the other people waiting thought of our talk of m/m romance and fandom I can't imagine) and eventually reached the head of the queue, to have IRS guy scribble on our forms in impenetrable scrawl and regale us with tales of his youthful sci-fi writing exploits (I probably imagined the implication that he'd grown out of it).

So now we just sit back and wait for a few months, and hopefully become official persons in the eyes of the US tax authorities!

Comments

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

*Sniggers* Don't forget the having to hand in our phones, camera and ereader in a clear plastic bag. God knows what we could have got up to with those in the IRS office!

I think the other poor sods waiting were doing their best to ignore us - one woman actually got up and moved further away from us when a chair became free. Maybe we shocked her delicate sensibilities - good thing you didn't read out loud from what you wrote in the cafe ;D

BTW, did you notice the IRS guy looked a lot like Leslie Nielson? I think he fancied himself as a bit of a comedian too, with his tales of friends in the KGB and underground US spy bases . . . .

[jl_merrow]

Shh! Just remember - they're listening! ;)

[clarelondon.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! My worst offence was having my handbag spike the metal detector at the Embassy THREE times - one was the clip on my purse, then a teaspoon I carry for emergencies (doesn't everyone?!) and finally - when their gritted teeth and lack of British humour was at its worst - we found Son#2's metal pencil sharpener, forgotten at the bottom of my bag.

But yes, they were very helpful when I *was* finally let in, and I don't remember it taking too long for the tax number to come through.
^_^

[jl_merrow]

*gasp* Not the deadly metal pencil sharpener! Who knows what damage you could have wrought with that! ;)

Yes, they were very helpful when we finally got to see someone - we just had the bad luck to turn up when there were other people there with complicated problems, and only one IRS guy to deal with them.

[mangopip.livejournal.com]

<

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<i [...] explosives.>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<<I particularly appreciated the cartoon-style "No bombs" illustration on the door, for the benefit of those persons who might have thought the US embassy positively welcomed explosives. >>

*giggles uncontrollably*

[jl_merrow]

*g*

[corneliagrey.livejournal.com]

I am very much confused about all the tax stuff ^^;;
I spend most of the year in London for university (and pay taxes there when I work there), but I am an Italian citizen (and pay taxes here when I work here), and now I'm publishing in America and... I have no idea who I should be paying taxes to O.o
I foresee a visit to an accountant soon! What are the US tax numbers for?

[jl_merrow]

Sorry for the late reply - I've been away!
The US tax number, basically, is so that you DON'T have to pay US tax on your royalties - otherwise some, but not all, publishers will deduct 30% before they pay you.

As others have explained it WAY better than I could, I'll link you to this comment on josephine_myles' lj. :)