Sinc moving to Belgium, I’ve got used to forms that are incomprehensible because they’re written in Dutch.  This morning I encountered one that was also a mystery, written in English.

It’s from the Canada Revenue Agency, entitled Application for Refund of Part XIII Tax Withheld.

A Canadian company prepares my taxes.  My income is from pensions in Canada.  There are all sorts of rules for Canadians living outside the country.  I don’t understand them.  I keep praying that my tax person does understand the intricacies.

I was told in April that there’d be a long delay in receiving my 2023 refund.  And it’s still not in my account.

Now this letter with the magic word “refund” front and centre.  But what do I put in all those boxes?

Once again I follow the good graces of my tax professional.  She’s a good person and empathizes with my lack of knowledge, plus my long exhales.  And maybe, just maybe, I’ll end up with more money than I expected.

As I get older, I’m more willing to not know.  It says nothing about me as a human being.  Just that my version of intelligence doesn’t reside in the realm of analysis.

And would you believe that my first year of university, in 1967, was in accounting?

I barely believe it myself