This is a rant, but I’m not mad. I just found this hilarious and wanted to share so that you 🫵 can also have a laugh on this beautiful rainy Tuesday.
I filed a few application papers related to taxes online (namely, for a personal invoice number), through the online e-Tax system. It took me about 2-3 hours and tonnes of useless numbers and apps to connect it with my mynumbercard and get it to work. This is a whole other story of pain and distress, but I did it. I managed to use the website stuck in the 90s. I felt like I was on top of things and even dared to assume it’s not that bad.
3-4weeks later today, I got an email from the E-Tax system with the information regarding my tax number application. It did not say whether it was issued or not, just that there was an update about it. Want more info? Go to the website.
I wait to get back home to my pc, as I can’t log in without scanning my number card.
I get home, enthusiastically take my mynumbercard and scan the QR code to log in through the mynumber app on my phone, which then lets me scan the card, and then I finally access the website…
…Which then shows me a list of my applications without any updates. Just says “applied” as was on day 1.
But the notification must be somewhere, right?
Knowing potential pitfalls of automated Japanese systems, such as small creatures inside ATMs who have to manually give you out cash and take days off during golden week, I figured that there must be similar ones here and they just forgot to “automatically” update my status.
Thus I went to the notification list…
Which, alas, appeared to be empty as well.
I was about to give up on myself, but then noticed that there is a small field which allows you to choose a “category” of notifications to be shown in the notification list.
After choosing the category I needed, it appeared! The update message appeared!
I click on it, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, greedily staring at the screen (just like Light when writing down the names of criminals he saw on the TV) ready to get my number…
And it redirects me to a notification that just shows my application date and content, and that there is an “update”.
But where? WHERE ON EARTH IS IT?
I was exhausted. Devastated. Infuriated.
And then I saw a small button at the bottom right of the page, which said “go to notifications regarding (this category)”.
I click there and heavens, I see the document attached to the notification box.
Never have I ever clicked “download” so fast in my life…
…only to get an xml I couldn’t even open properly. No pdf available.
Ended up viewing the document with the number and hitting that good ol’ snipping tool. (Right click print did not work).
All of that took me over 20 minutes. Just to download my online document.
In short, if you want to use eTax online system, beware.
by zhuzhu09