Income Tax Magic
From James Donahue's Journal:
Not long after settling in with the Begays, Doris and I realized that it was time to work on our income tax forms. I sought out a tax preparation office in Holbrook and carried all of our papers in for the annual hour or more of terror. When I stumbled out of that office I was shocked beyond belief.
Because we had cashed in all of our assets, including my 401-K retirement, our extra life insurance policies and sold our house, then used the money to pay all of our debts, I was told I now had to pay a tax on all of the extra money we allegedly “earned” during the previous year. We were going to owe thousands in unexpected income tax . . . money we did not have. We were going to be financially wiped out.
When I brought this terrible news back to the reservation, the Begays smiled and said they thought they could help us. Raymond told us not to worry. He got out his magic case, burned some cedar, feathered the smoke over us, muttered some prayers in the Navajo tongue, and then instructed me to return to town and visit a woman who he thought might help prepare our tax returns correctly.
We had to be given special instructions on just how to find this woman. She was operating in the strangest of places, in an unmarked building in the midst of what appeared to be either a junk yard or a large storage facility along the railroad tracks. As I remember, we couldn’t just call for an appointment. It was a walk-in service. We walked in and waited our turn. And she was busy. When we finally got in to see her, we found that the wait was well worth our time.
She looked over the tax form prepared by the other office, examined our papers, and began to calculate. She asked why we were in Arizona and it it was for business purposes. I told her I was a writer and that I was with the Navajo to learn about their culture and write stories. The next question . . . did I expect to sell my stories. I said yes. There were more calculations. She asked what we were paying in rent and other living expenses. We had an agreement to pay a specific amount to the Begays each month in rent and to cover our share of the cost of utilities. She asked for a record of the miles I drove from Michigan to Arizona and the miles driven for research. I said I would have to work on that. She advised me to prepare a little book, create a calendar for each day, and make it appear that I was keeping daily records. She said that would be required if I was ever audited. She also asked if we had made any charitable donations during the year. I didn’t think we had, but under thorough questioning, I remembered the $500 necklace we purchased from the Begays. She suggested that we return the jewelry and mark the money as a gift to Raymond’s church. By law, he was an ordained minister in the Church of the Navajo. She also wanted Raymond to prepare a receipt for this gift. We also remembered that I had donated boxes of research work and photographs of Great Lakes shipwrecks to go on file with the Sanilac County shipwreck museum that was being planned by the local dive team. She had me contact Jim Stayer, the man who accepted the material, and have him prepare a receipt. I called Jim and he agreed that it would have a value in the thousands of dollars. He sent a letter establishing its value to the museum.
After I obtained all of the documentation, and calculated the miles driven, we were pleased to find that this woman was able to reduce our income tax debt to a very acceptable amount. I think we paid a few hundred dollars, but this did not break us. I was impressed with the way the Begays helped us get through this personal crisis. Not only that, but they had their valued necklace returned (which would have happened anyway).
We remained in Arizona for three years, although we lived in various parts of the state. Each winter when it became time to do our income tax, I drove from where ever we lived to have this same woman prepare our tax forms. It was worth the drive.
From James Donahue's Journal:
Not long after settling in with the Begays, Doris and I realized that it was time to work on our income tax forms. I sought out a tax preparation office in Holbrook and carried all of our papers in for the annual hour or more of terror. When I stumbled out of that office I was shocked beyond belief.
Because we had cashed in all of our assets, including my 401-K retirement, our extra life insurance policies and sold our house, then used the money to pay all of our debts, I was told I now had to pay a tax on all of the extra money we allegedly “earned” during the previous year. We were going to owe thousands in unexpected income tax . . . money we did not have. We were going to be financially wiped out.
When I brought this terrible news back to the reservation, the Begays smiled and said they thought they could help us. Raymond told us not to worry. He got out his magic case, burned some cedar, feathered the smoke over us, muttered some prayers in the Navajo tongue, and then instructed me to return to town and visit a woman who he thought might help prepare our tax returns correctly.
We had to be given special instructions on just how to find this woman. She was operating in the strangest of places, in an unmarked building in the midst of what appeared to be either a junk yard or a large storage facility along the railroad tracks. As I remember, we couldn’t just call for an appointment. It was a walk-in service. We walked in and waited our turn. And she was busy. When we finally got in to see her, we found that the wait was well worth our time.
She looked over the tax form prepared by the other office, examined our papers, and began to calculate. She asked why we were in Arizona and it it was for business purposes. I told her I was a writer and that I was with the Navajo to learn about their culture and write stories. The next question . . . did I expect to sell my stories. I said yes. There were more calculations. She asked what we were paying in rent and other living expenses. We had an agreement to pay a specific amount to the Begays each month in rent and to cover our share of the cost of utilities. She asked for a record of the miles I drove from Michigan to Arizona and the miles driven for research. I said I would have to work on that. She advised me to prepare a little book, create a calendar for each day, and make it appear that I was keeping daily records. She said that would be required if I was ever audited. She also asked if we had made any charitable donations during the year. I didn’t think we had, but under thorough questioning, I remembered the $500 necklace we purchased from the Begays. She suggested that we return the jewelry and mark the money as a gift to Raymond’s church. By law, he was an ordained minister in the Church of the Navajo. She also wanted Raymond to prepare a receipt for this gift. We also remembered that I had donated boxes of research work and photographs of Great Lakes shipwrecks to go on file with the Sanilac County shipwreck museum that was being planned by the local dive team. She had me contact Jim Stayer, the man who accepted the material, and have him prepare a receipt. I called Jim and he agreed that it would have a value in the thousands of dollars. He sent a letter establishing its value to the museum.
After I obtained all of the documentation, and calculated the miles driven, we were pleased to find that this woman was able to reduce our income tax debt to a very acceptable amount. I think we paid a few hundred dollars, but this did not break us. I was impressed with the way the Begays helped us get through this personal crisis. Not only that, but they had their valued necklace returned (which would have happened anyway).
We remained in Arizona for three years, although we lived in various parts of the state. Each winter when it became time to do our income tax, I drove from where ever we lived to have this same woman prepare our tax forms. It was worth the drive.