Shadow Empire

Chapter 85: Bad Things Happen One After Another
The Golden Diamond Law Firm is one of the best law firms in Jingang City. As to whether it is the best law firm in the entire federation, it is not clear, but they say it is.

Johnny changed into a set of clothes that looked a little more decent today. Although the way he looked sitting in the wheelchair was a little... at least it didn't look weird.

His daughter pushed him into the Golden Diamond Office, where he was greeted by a beautiful lady with blonde hair.

She was wearing a formal dress. The wide neckline and white shirt made her look very capable. The slightly downward neckline gave way to two semicircles that looked bulging and gave people endless imagination.

A sweet face can always calm people down instantly, especially for gentlemen.

"Golden Diamond Law Firm welcomes you, sir. How can I help you?"

"If you have an appointment, I can check for you."

Johnny looked at the exquisite decoration and luxurious materials, and suddenly felt a little hesitant. "I... want to find a lawyer to consult about some tax matters. I don't have an appointment."

The pretty lady at the front desk looked through the appointment book and said, "Mr. Gus is available now. He is one of the best tax lawyers in Golden Harbor City, with a winning rate of over 95 percent."

"I highly recommend him, and if you would like to choose another lawyer, I can recommend one to you, but they are all unavailable right now."

It sounded impressive, and Johnny didn't make any more choices. "This is lawyer Gus. Can I ask how much is his consulting fee?"

"Sixty dollars an hour, sir."

The pretty receptionist did not look down on them because of their ordinary clothes. Although the sponge was loose, as long as there was still water in it, the water could be squeezed out by squeezing it.

These two people don't seem to be rich, but the fact that they can come to the law firm means that at least one hour of consultation fees can be squeezed out of them.

"Sixty dollars, my God, it's much more expensive than over there!", the fat daughter whispered in Johnny's ear.

there?

That bastard over there told him not to hire a lawyer, which made him look bad in court. I heard that he could have gotten more compensation!

Johnny turned his head and glared at her, then looked at the receptionist with a smile on his face, "That's him, can I come over now?"

The receptionist made a note in the appointment book and then picked up the phone, "Mr. Gus, someone has some questions for you...Okay, I'll take him over right away."

She hung up the phone and said, "Please follow me."

Mr. Gus's office is a little far from the door and is not the most popular among law firms in federal tax cases, nor does it have the most "traffic".

They prefer financial disputes and divorce cases, so they will arrange them a little far away.

After walking for about two or three minutes, they finally arrived at the door of Mr. Gus' office. The receptionist knocked on the door. When she heard an answer from inside, she smiled and opened the door, inviting the two to come in.

"Bring three cups of coffee for me and my clients." Mr. Gus had a very typical appearance and dress of the federal middle-class elite, with a slicked-back hair and meticulous attention to detail, a slightly blue chin, and sideburns that looked as if they had been measured with a ruler.

He was wearing a light-colored suit, a tie with blue and purple lines, and the badge of the Golden Diamond Office on his chest.

"Please..." He wanted to say "Please sit down", but Johnny was already sitting. He moved the chair across the desk and said apologetically, "Sorry, I don't know."

Johnny didn't care about this kind of thing, he just wanted to start his consultation as soon as possible.

When Mr. Gus returned to his seat and the receptionist brought him coffee, he took out a pen and a few stapled pages of paper and began his work.

"Mr. Johnny, what do you want to consult us about?"

Johnny was silent for a few seconds. "They told me that the tax bureau sued me for suspected tax evasion."

Mr. Gus showed a very surprised expression, and his original movement of leaning forward slightly to record something changed. He leaned back and put the pen back on the table.

"Mr. Jonny, tax evasion is a very serious accusation. First of all, I want to assure you that I am professional and I will not disclose the content of our conversation to anyone."

"I want to ask you a question here first. Have you evaded taxes?"

Johnny shook his head and raised his voice a little, "I have never evaded taxes!"

Mr. Gus raised his hand to calm him down. "You don't need to raise your voice so loudly for me to hear you. So, have you filed your taxes?"

“Yes, I file taxes, sales taxes.”

The lawyer frowned and asked, "Excuse me, are you the operator or the shareholder?"

“I’m an operator myself, I run a bakery.”

Lawyer: "Then it looks like your business should be good. After all, you can attract the attention of the tax bureau, and at least you won't lose money."

Johnny didn't deny it. "That's right."

Lawyer: "Can you tell me how you determine your monthly income and how to file taxes?" Johnny glanced at his daughter. "My daughter and I are both employees of the bakery. Each of us gets paid 50 yuan, and the bakery makes a profit of about 100 yuan a month."

Mr. Gus got the point right away. "So you only reported the business income portion of your tax return, and ignored the salary you paid yourself?"

Federal tax laws have been changed over the past few decades, and some presidents have used the "personal tax exemption" argument to gain votes and come to power.

On the one hand, the financial health of the federal government is important, and on the other hand, it is also related to the reason for the birth of the federation. Tax issues have been sensitive for a long time.

So the tax laws were very confusing during this period. It was not until recent years that new policies were promulgated based on the "Tax Law Amendment", which determined that a person does not have to pay taxes if his monthly income does not exceed 100 yuan.

This is also why many people have work permits, but are only willing to provide jobs to two people.

If there’s a third person working, it could be over a hundred bucks and they’d have to pay taxes!
Companies must file tax returns regardless of how much income they earn.

However, Congress is actively negotiating to push for the passage of a new tax law amendment. The senator presiding over this amendment believes that as long as the income is higher than thirty-five dollars, it is necessary to collect taxes.

However, this proposal is unlikely to be passed in a short period of time because of too much resistance from the public.

But anyway, from Gus's point of view, Johnny did evade taxes.

"I'm not a professional accountant, so I'm not sure how much tax you should pay, but if you only file taxes based on your revenue and profits without registering a company, and ignore the part for you and your daughter, to be honest, Johnny, you're in trouble."

He paused and said, "Have you and your daughter signed an employment contract?"

"Like how much money do you promise to give her every month?"

Johnny shook his head. "No, who would do such a thing? But I can swear that I give her money every month!"

The fat daughter also spoke up quickly, "Yes, sir, my father gives me fifty dollars every month."

Mr. Gus still has no intention of recording it, "but the tax bureau, the court and the judge don't believe it."

"They can say that the money you gave to your daughter was a voluntary gift, and you probably didn't register a company, such as Mr. Johnny's bakery."

Johnny shook his head, "It's never been registered."

"The state's laws clearly state that business tax and personal income tax for self-employed persons must be filed together, but you only file taxes based on your business, ignoring your extra income of at least $100 per month."

"Whether you tell the court that your daughter was paid to work for you, or otherwise, you have not produced strong evidence to prove that."

"There is no disagreement in my mind about the outcome of this lawsuit."

Johnny's head was about to explode, "No one has ever told me this!"

Mr. Gus was not interested in whether he knew or not. "If the tax bureau wants to sue you, it is very likely that they already have clear evidence, so..." He shook his head. "If you plan to find a lawyer, you'd better do it as soon as possible."

Seeing Johnny's expectant face, Mr. Gus shook his head decisively, "I won't take this case. First of all, I mainly take corporate cases, not personal cases."

"Secondly, I personally don't take on cases that are sure to fail, but I can recommend a lawyer to you if you need one."

He looked at Johnny. There were actually a lot of cases like this in the federal government. There were federal tax laws, state tax laws, and local tax laws. God damn knows how many different tax laws there are in the federal government.

Moreover, state and local tax laws vary from state to state and region to region, but the same is true for other laws.

It is possible that this state encourages a certain industry and does not levy or provides partial tax exemption, but in other states this is a discouraged industry and there is no preferential treatment.

Therefore, there are basically no lawyers in the federal government who can handle cases all over the country. Almost all lawyers are only proficient in the laws of one state. If you want to cross state lines, you need to contact a higher-level firm or find a colleague.

There is no need to find a colleague to help Johnny's case. He was guilty of tax evasion, there is no dispute about that. The only thing we can do is to see how to minimize his losses as much as possible, which is also the only thing lawyers can do in this matter.

Tax cases are difficult to take because once a tax case reaches the stage where it has to go to trial, the tax bureau has basically already obtained solid evidence.

Johnny was a little desperate. For the sake of forty-five dollars (the law firm takes a 25% commission), Mr. Gus said softly, "The lawyer I recommended has been interning with me."

"He can help you turn your subjective tax evasion into tax avoidance as much as possible, so that the punishment imposed by the court will be lighter accordingly."

"And his agency fee is very cheap, no more than two hundred dollars."

For a trainee lawyer, this price is not too low, and it also gives him a chance to go to court and fight the tax bureau, which is an opportunity that does not come every day.

Instead of analyzing a hundred cases, it is better to fight the lawyers from the tax bureau directly in court. This is the most efficient growth plan!
Johnny doesn't have much money now, and his bank account has been frozen. The IRS applied for it on the grounds that the money might be wealth that he stole from the IRS and the federal government!

Suddenly, his whole life became a mess. Bad things happened every day for the past month and he felt terrible!

(End of this chapter)