Question and Answer of Chapter 6: The Income-Tax Man

Q.1: What is the author's first impression on the visitor?
Ans: The author's first impression was that the visitor was a business man. He thought that the visitor had come there to open a shop in their neighborhood.

Q.2: Who is the narrator?
Ans:  Actually, Mark Twin is the narrator. Here in this essay he has presented himself a business man. He is under the misconception that the visitor is also a business man. But unlike, the visitor is an assessor of income tax department.

Q.3: What is unusual about the opening part of the story? Does it contain any hidden implication?
Ans: The opening part of the essay is unusual in the sense that it is ambiguous. The narrator thinks that the visitor is a business man who has come to open a shop in their neighborhood. But actually the visitor is an assessor. The hidden implication is that whatever the narrator should have kept secret, he is unknowingly disclosing it.

Q.4: Why did he start asking the stranger about his business?
Ans: The visitor told the author that he was an assessor. The author did not know the meaning of the word 'assessor'. He was of the opinion that the stranger was a business man. He thought that the man was opening a shop in their neighborhood. That is why he started asking him about his business.

Q.5: Is the author against paying taxes or criticizing the people who do not pay texes?
Ans: Actually, the author want to criticize those people who do not pay taxes. In this essay he says that in order to escape taxes, people do not show their real assets or income which they have.

Q.6: Why did the author call his cook and say, "Hold me while is faint"?
Ans: While leaving, the stranger handed the author a large envelope. When the author opened it, he saw a form there which described the income of the author as well as the huge income tax which he was bound to pay. That made him so sad that he was about to lose his senses. That is why he called his cook and told him to hold him as he was going to faint.

Q.7: In what way was the author able to save income tax?
Ans:  The author was able to save income tax by visiting a very rich man who did not pay any tax. The man took the author's papers and made some calculations. He wrote down falsely state, national and city taxes which the writer has paid. Then he mentioned the losses due to flood, fire and so many other losses which he had suffered. Thus the author had been shown a person whose annual income was only one thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars.

Q.8: What did the envelope contain?
Ans: The envelope contained a form having a long list of questions. All the questions were related to the author's private affairs. The forma also contained a report showing his income which he received from different sources. Lastly, it contained the income tax which the author had to submit in the government treasury.

Q.9: What is your impression of the,"very best of the rich men of the city"?
Ans: The above phrase means that the rich people ware considered the best one. They are given great respect. They are given preference over poor people. They themselves consider themselves superior to common people. But when the question of income tax arises, these people commit tax evasion by showing themselves poor. They show big losses in their business.

Q.10: What is the essence of the title?
Ans: The title of the essay it "The Income-Tax Man". Tax is the amount of money which people pay to the government according to the level of their income. People, all over the world, try to escape income tax. For this purpose they do not show their real income or other valuable things which they have in their possession.

Posted By: Wasim Javed