The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 176: Mercy Bought With a Check
William had never believed there was anything honorable about paying too little in taxes. He had never believed that.
There had once been a wealthy man who proudly told others that he always reported his income in full, and that his main source of income came from employing himself and paying himself a barely acceptable salary.
Some people had even written articles praising the wealthy man’s conduct and holding him up as the conscience of society.
But those people would never tell the public how much this wealthy man actually paid when he “paid his taxes in full,” because they were ashamed to say it aloud. It was also not helpful to the rich man’s image in the eyes of the public.
Paying too little in taxes would damage his public image. William did not want to become someone abandoned by society’s “mainstream group,” meaning the lower and middle strata, so he would not do that.
He had always believed that the greater one’s ability and the greater one’s wealth, the greater one’s responsibility. The more one had, the more one had to set an example.
Vera had known William’s requirements from the beginning. At first, he had even wanted to genuinely pay his taxes in full.
At this moment, she was also somewhat curious. “How much income am I handling? Perhaps I should have a plan in advance.”
“Not very much,” William said casually. “A little over a million dollars in cash, plus some shares.”
Those words were truly irritating. If that did not count as much, then what did?
Vera rolled her eyes. She liked the feeling of being around William. There was none of that rigid hierarchy between superior and subordinate. Sometimes they even joked with each other.
They seemed a little more intimate than ordinary friends, but not too intimate. She enjoyed that feeling. It made her feel at ease.
Using her professional knowledge, she proposed a complete plan that, in her view, would be the most beneficial legal tax-avoidance plan for William. The general idea was to turn “income” into “capital increase.” This portion would count as investment income, and as long as the individual did not benefit personally, no tax would need to be paid.
At the same time, the company would not need to pay taxes on it either, because it was not sales revenue or operating income. Naturally, no taxation issue existed.
Of course, some minor legal maneuvers would still be required. Once completed, the money could be placed in the corporate account of a company personally controlled by William. What was more amusing was that this company, from top to bottom, had only William in it.
Then William could freely squander the company’s “public funds” for all kinds of private consumption in the company’s name. Because he was the sole shareholder, he would not pursue responsibility against himself.
When he felt the time was about right, he could use other methods to run the company into “bankruptcy.” Then, through certain maneuvers, he could sign an agreement with the owner in his personal capacity at an extremely low price and take all the company’s property rights.
Most of the time, that owner would eventually become the bank.
Reasonable and legal. In this way, large amounts of assets that should have been taxable passed through several steps that were not especially mysterious to certain people and entered their pockets. They did not have to bear any excess legal liability. Even the IRS would find it difficult to deal with them.
Perhaps doing this created certain moral problems, but for capitalists, morality only had soil to grow in at charity galas held for the purpose of saving money.
As for everyday life?
Impossible. Morality could not be sold for money, so they would not keep such things.
William did not state his position. Vera naturally knew that the relatively idealized tax-avoidance plan had not received William’s approval. This had actually happened several times before. At first she had found it somewhat uncomfortable, but now she had begun to get used to it.
William’s forcefulness was different from other people’s forcefulness. It was easier to accept. Of course, perhaps only Vera thought so.
A little later, she produced a new plan. William would have to pay taxation on this transaction in roughly two parts: the cash portion and the cross-shareholding portion. Overall, Vera could help him lower the tax rate legally and reasonably.
“By a rough estimate, you’ll need to pay at least sixteen percentage points in taxation on this transaction.” In truth, it could still be lowered, but William did not agree.
Only then did William nod with satisfaction. “I’ll have to trouble you to work a little harder on this. When the time comes, I want the proof of tax payment to be properly preserved.”
“Of course.” Vera had already grown used to William’s demands for detail. He always required that no receipt could be missing or lost, and that everything be preserved properly, as if someone might come to audit his accounts anytime and anywhere.
After they finished discussing this, Vera quickly returned to work. She oversaw both the company’s finances and William’s personal financial accounts. It looked as though the company was not large and had little going on, but that was not the case.
Branches in various places were still being built. All kinds of expenses and income were being generated constantly, and in the end, most of it required her review.
Not long after Vera left, two fourteen-year-old children knocked on William’s office door.