Are You Familiar With The Paperwork Reduction Act?

Until I applied for a job the other day at Office Max, I was not familiar with the Paperwork Reduction Act, either.

I asked the manager at Office Max for a job application. He reluctantly obliged. I then asked for a pen to fill out the job application. He suggested that I take it home and bring it back when it was completed. I explained to him that I was homeless because I was jobless, which was why I was penniless and thus, pen less. He half-heartedly handed me a pen — it was the test pen at the checkout counter that customers doodle with while waiting for the cashier to tell them how much they owe. Pen in hand I shuffled over to the display section with the desks and chairs and read the Paper Reduction Act.

YOU are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, the tax returns and return information are confidential, as required by section 6103. The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on the individual circumstances. The estimated average time is:

RECORDKEEPING……….2 hr., 47 min.
LEARNING ABOUT THE LAW OR THE FORM……….37 min.
PREPARING AND SENDING THIS FORM TO THE SESA……….36 min.

If YOU have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be happy to hear from YOU. YOU can write to the Tax Forms Committee, Western Area Distribution Center, Rancho Cordova, CA

Paperwork Reduction Act further instructed: DO NOT send this form to this address. Instead, see WHEN and WHERE TO FILE in the separate instructions.

The Office Max Manager could not provide a valid OMB control number or the separate instructions to learn WHEN and WHERE TO FILE. The OMB control number was no longer valid having expired last fall and it seems the instructions to learn WHEN and WHERE TO FILE had been separated from the filing system and could not be located. He passed the blame onto his former ‘detail-deficient’ assistant. (His words not mine.)

When I mentioned that it was impossible for me to fill out the job application without a valid OMB and the separate instructions to learn WHEN and WHERE TO FILE, the manager told me that unless I filled out the job application it would be impossible for him to consider me for employment.

I’m now up to my eyebrows in paperwork. I had no idea that filing a simple lawsuit would require so many reams of paper. Unconcerned Citizen vs. Office Max will be my last lawsuit. At least until I see how this one turns out.

Signed,

Unconcerned Citizen / The Paper Plaintiff

P.S. Recycling is a pain.