As Long As I Got My Suit & Tie
Disclaimer: I am not a tax consultant, nor do I own Attack on Titan.
I just got my taxes done, and figured now was as good a time as ever to write this. I also can't remember who suggested this, or if this was one of my ideas.
"So this is your first time filing?"
Levi glanced up from the mountain of mostly useless documents that was dumped onto his perfectly neat and clean desk by the young man sitting in front of him. The guy looked a bit nervous, unsure, and all around confused. His startling green eyes stared at him as if he were a savior.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Okay, well, let's see what you've got here…" Levi murmured, rifling through the paperwork. There were bills, receipts, letters, bank statements, and… "You really didn't need to bring your birth certificate."
The kid scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I just wasn't sure so I brought everything."
"I can see that."
They sat in awkward silence for a moment as Levi sorted through the junk to find the bits of gold he would need to fill out this simple 1040EZ form. He put the useful documents in one neat pile and handed the rest back to his client.
"Eren, was it?" he asked, finally prepared to begin the real work. The kid nodded in affirmation. "I'm Levi." They shook hands. Eren's were a bit cold and clammy, despite being jammed in between his legs just moments before. "We'll be looking at your tuition statements and loans first. You graduated last year, right?"
Eren nodded again. "Mhm. In May."
Levi gave a slight nod to indicate he understood. "So this is just for the beginning of the year, correct?" he asked again, gesturing toward the tuition and loan statements. Eren nodded again. "And you began paying near the end of the year, in December?" Another nod.
Levi started running the numbers, looking at the amount of loans owed and the amount of interest already paid out. It didn't seem like much, since it was just the beginning of a very long repayment plan.
"It doesn't look like you'll get much back from that, since you just started paying. I can put it in, but it will end up costing you more than what you'll be getting back from it. For next year, if you keep these payments up, you'll get considerably more back." he explained.
"O-okay." Eren nodded, looking slightly distressed.
"I know you're expecting to get as much as you can, and I'll try to get you as much as possible, but the fees outweigh the return. You'll have to bite the bullet for this. However, you can always bring in these statements next year and I can add them in."
A hopeful expression replaced the disappointment, and Eren smiled. "Sounds good."
"Right, moving on to employment." Levi picked up the W2 documents Eren provided, adding the income up for each one. The kid had moved from job to job throughout the year, mostly retail and fast food establishments, but he made enough to justify a return. "Are these all of the W2 statements from every job you've worked over the past year? We need to make sure everything is accounted for when we file, because the IRS gets the same statements. If something is missing, they might audit you for it."
Eren scrunched up his face, digging in his pocket for a crumpled piece of notebook paper. Levi noticed that several workplaces were listed and crossed off.
"Yeah, I got the last one in the mail the other day." He confirmed.
"Good. You've made enough income to warrant a pretty decent return." Levi noted as he filled out all of the employment information.
"I just hope it's enough." Eren muttered, more to himself than Levi, the tax consultant thought.
"Don't we all." Levi murmured back. He'd seen plenty of people come through his office wanting as much money as they could get back for various reasons. Vacations, bills, business ventures, birthday presents, investments. Everyone wanted to squeeze out as much money as they could, down to the last penny. He was used to seeing desperation, confusion, and disappointment, as well as hope, excitement, and contentedness in his office.
"Do you do your own taxes?" Eren blurted out without thinking. He ducked his head, probably realizing it sounded like a silly question. "Sorry, the idea just popped into my head."
Levi almost smiled. He'd gotten that question a lot as well, probably once a day during prime tax season. "Yeah. But sometimes if I want to double-check, I get one of my coworkers to look through the paperwork. Mine is pretty standard, and the form is pretty easy to fill out once you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, you practically do this all day, right? Seems like it wouldn't be too hard." Eren said, then winced. "Not that I'm saying your job is easy, I mean, of course it's difficult or else people would just do it on their own. But you've had a lot of training and stuff, right? Did you go to college for this?"
"I took a few accounting classes, yeah." Levi said. "And not all taxes are easy. When you get into marriages with shared properties, plus individual investments, with kids and a dog and five different charities they donate to on a regular basis, things get more complicated." He added.
Eren actually looked interested, which was a mild surprise to Levi, and he kept going. "I have some people who will try anything to get as much money as possible. They'll make things up to try to get tax credits, like shelling out five bucks for a box of Girl Scout cookies and calling it a charitable donation, when all they did was hand some cash over to a little girl. Others are more crafty, and they'll actually bring in receipts. Of course, I have to be careful, because half the time they're from a couple years ago."
"Wow." Eren said, chuckling. "That must be a pain, having to deal with that."
Levi shrugged. "I don't mind too much, as long as they don't try to force it. My job is to make sure everything is legal and you are protected from the IRS, but also to ensure the government receives its much-needed tax money. People don't realize what all taxes go towards. Practically all government jobs are funded mostly on tax dollars, which people are so reluctant to give and eager to receive. You have teachers, police departments, welfare programs, health care, and all kinds of things that rely on people paying taxes and not cheating the system."
"But people still avoid paying, somehow." Eren said. "I hear about tax evasion and stuff on TV. Do people really do that? How can you get away with not paying your taxes? All of the jobs I've worked take taxes directly out of my paycheck before I even get it."
"It's mostly people who work for themselves, and either neglect to file out of forgetfulness or greed, or simply don't think they deserve to pay. I can't do much about that, though. When I'm not on the job, I tend to ignore what people say about taxes. Even if they come out and say they've been cheating for years, as long as I'm out at lunch, there's nothing really to be done. And of course, they wouldn't admit to evading taxes in a tax preparation office, so there's never the possibility to catch someone."
"Wow." Eren said again.
"But anyway, let's get back to your return." Levi glanced at the clock. This was his last appointment of the night, and he had already worked a long day. They always extended the hours during tax season, for people who worked 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. jobs and couldn't get time on the weekends to drop by the office. Eren made his appointment earlier in the day, taking the very last slot available. Levi thought maybe he'd get to go home an hour early today, but at least he was still making money.
Eren watched as Levi entered all of the information in, one W2 form at a time.
"Sorry there are so many." He said sheepishly after a while.
"No problem. You're fresh out of college and the economy is shit, I'm surprised you even found this many jobs."
"Yeah, well, the anger issues don't help much either." Eren muttered, scratching his neck.
Levi paused. "Anger issues?" he asked tentatively. The kid looked easygoing enough, more nervous than anything else. For some reason he couldn't imagine seeing him go into a rage. Then again, looks were deceiving, as he knew quite personally.
"Um, yeah…" Eren shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
"I don't mean to pry, but if you've received any kind of therapy or something that involves funding, it could be relevant to your return."
"Oh, how so?" Eren asked.
"We try to find as many ways as possible to ensure you get the return you deserve, and since everyone is different, with their own unique situation, there are a few tricks we like to use. If you have a disability, or mental instability, it could mean a larger return. Not that I'm saying anger issues is a mental disorder or anything, but if you've been treated for it, we can consider that tax-deductible."
"Really?" Eren asked, eyes wide. "I didn't know that. Um, I had an…altercation at one point and was put into a medical facility. It was just for a few days, and then they enrolled me in an anger management program. I was doing better and didn't have any incidents so they let me pass the course. Do I need to bring in that stuff? Actually, I think it might be in here…" Eren rummaged through the pile of documents he brought in.
Levi didn't think he saw anything pertaining to medical expenses, but he wasn't looking too hard when they first sat down. When Eren finally let out a noise of victory and pulled out a letter, he understood why he didn't notice it. The letter didn't look like a medical billing statement or anything else he'd seen before. It was from a mental hospital, which he rarely saw statements for, and outlined the program.
"There was a fee, and also I think some court costs. Oh yeah, that was the month I went without electricity." Eren murmured, looking through more documents. Levi's eyes widened a bit at that, and he took the letter to examine. "Ah, here it is. I got fired from my job because of it, so things were pretty crazy for a while."
"Understandable. I'm glad you're okay now." Levi said, meeting Eren's eye. It wasn't because he felt threatened, but mostly because the young man looked happy and relatively healthy.
"Um, thanks." Eren said, fidgeting again as Levi perused the documents.
"Okay, we can work with this. It's not going to be much, but this will boost your return a bit. Do you happen to have the electricity bill for that month? It would help to determine whether the cost of this program and the legal fees were more than your income could cover."
"Uhhh…" Eren rifled through the papers again. "Most of the stuff I have online; I tried to print out as much as I could. Hold on, let me see if I can find it."
Levi nodded and began entering the information anyway. He had a feeling that it would come out to be in Eren's favor, since he mentioned skipping out on a bill. As a consultant, he knew how expensive legal and medical bills could get.
"I think this is it. They cut my service off when I couldn't pay for the month, then charged me a late fee when I finally sent them money, and also a reconnection fee for having to turn it back on. I was working at…" Eren reached across to shift through the W2 statements. "This place when it happened." He said, pointing to the document. "They tried to keep my last week's pay from me since they fired me, and I had to fight them—in court—to get what I earned until the incident. They also tried to sue me for what happened, since it involved another coworker and was on the premises, so they kind of cancelled each other out."
"Alright." Levi gathered all of the papers together and scanned them. "Yeah, this will help. This paper here from the mental hospital says you have an anger disorder, which was diagnosed during your stay, so all of those fees and such are due to that, and we're allowed to file them in your return."
"Cool. That was such a shitty part of my life, I didn't think anything good would come of it. I mean, I've had problems with my anger ever since I was a kid, and got into plenty of trouble at school, but I never really thought it was a problem until a couple of years ago. No one else really said anything until one of my friends noticed it had gotten a bit out of hand. I would try to fight strangers on the street for no reason. I could be fine one minute, and then one snide comment from someone I barely knew—or even a close friend—could set me off."
"Wow." It was Levi's turn to respond. "And this program helped?" he asked, lifting the letter.
Eren nodded. "Yeah, they taught me some things to do when I felt angry and out of control. Also suggested some activities to do in order to keep my anger in check. I started taking some boxing lessons, but I couldn't afford it so I had to stop. Now I just do some stuff at home when I feel the need to let out some steam."
"That's a good idea. I work out regularly, but sometimes I'll do an extra set when I'm stressed." Levi told him. He went back to the tax return, inputting the rest of the information. "Alright, originally you were going to get back $655, but now you'll be receiving $988. Sound better?"
"Definitely." Eren breathed, smiling in relief. "I'm so glad you brought that up, I would have never known to consider that."
"They never told you about it being tax-deductible?" Levi asked with a slight frown.
"Nope. Never really came up. They wanted their money." Eren gave a slight chuckle. "But if it ever happens again, now I'll know."
"Well, for your own health, I hope it doesn't."
"Yeah, I'd rather get a better return from a stable job in my career field." Eren stated. Levi nodded in agreement.
He filled out the rest of the information quickly, making sure there wasn't anything else they both might have missed, before printing out copies and handing them over. "You're all set. I'll file this for you and you should be getting your return within a month's time. We only charge $50 for simple forms like this. I can take it out of your return or you can pay now, either way is fine."
"Ummm…" Eren dug out his wallet and flipped it open. Levi saw the inner debate going on in Eren's mind as he struggled to figure out if it would be easier to pay now or receive less in his return. Dinner tonight, or bills next month? "I…think it would be best to take it out of my return." He said, somewhat sheepish.
"That's fine. There's just a small fee, but I can see about waiving it for you. Everyone has to do taxes, or should at least, so we try not to penalize you for it."
"Thanks. For all of your help." Eren said with a genuine smile. They shook hands again and Levi gave him the copies of his return and paperwork.
"I'll see you next year." He said, holding out his card.
"Yep, see you then!" Eren replied, taking it and putting it in his wallet. Most people shoved it in their tax packet, never to be looked at again until they were scrambling to file taxes the next year. Levi allowed himself a small smile as he watched Eren go. He had a feeling he'd see him again, sooner or later.
Omake
Levi did indeed see Eren later, at the store while shopping for groceries. They chatted, Eren talking about his new job in the career he actually went to college for, Levi noting how slow things had gotten since tax season was over.
By the next year Levi was doing Eren's taxes yet again, but instead of in the office, it was in his own apartment, shared with Eren. The year after that, they filed as a married couple for the first time, and Levi got to see firsthand how marriage effected tax returns, although he didn't mind as much as he thought it would. Eren was worth it.
Author's Note: Again, I know next to nothing about taxes, so if I got anything wrong, just let me know and I'll try to fix it. I pretty much made up some stuff, especially the numbers, so don't quote me on anything. Also, I suggest going to a tax consultant for your first time filing, because they'll be able to catch stuff and walk you through the process so you don't make a mistake. Plus, for a simple 1040EZ form or whatever, it doesn't cost too much to have a professional file it for you.
