My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

emember they would charge $10.00 for a single return while my
price was only $7.00. I needed to acquire my clientele, which I
did.
Things were going very well until one day when a man came into
my office asking for help with his tax returns. He had a long beard
and was dressed as a fisherman. I asked him for the W-2 forms
and his 1099's and any other relevant information. He told me that
he only had one W-2 form and that it was his wife’s. She was a
factory worker. I asked him how much he earned as a fisherman.
He replied that he wasn’t sure exactly, but he gave me a rough
estimate. He also asked if he had to report his total income. I
immediately told him that he absolutely had to. I thought of
referring him to another establishment, but, as I wanted to extend
my clientele beyond the Portuguese market, I told him that he had
to provide me with information that accounted for every penny he
had earned. He gave me a figure. I prepared his return
accordingly and he paid me $15.00 (which was what I charged for
a joint return) and he left my office. I found it very strange that a
non-Portuguese person would come to me for that service, but, at
the same time, I felt good that I was expanding into a broader,
American market.
In the beginning of April that year - very close to the deadline for
filing one‘s taxes - a very well-dressed man came into my office
carrying a briefcase. He identified himself as an IRS Inspector and
asked me if I recognized him. I did not. He mentioned that I had
done his Income Tax return and that my competitors had accused
my clients of receiving larger refunds than their work history
warranted. They accused me of not charging a fee, but rather
charging a percentage of their refunds. Therefore I was cheating
the US government. I flatly denied the charge. He asked me for
my checkbook and any copies of the returns I had prepared that
year. I immediately called my attorney, Fred Bruno, who told me
to cooperate with the inspector, which I did. I felt that I had done
nothing wrong, but I was still rattled by the seriousness of the
98