Chapter 355: 355: The Economic Hand (Second Update to Celebrate the League Leader Taking His Wife)

As soon as Wang Haifeng heard this news, he immediately became unsettled.

He really didn’t know whether Feng Jun had paid taxes on the jade sales, but it seemed impossible that he would have.

This had nothing to do with the awareness of voluntary tax payment; the key issue was that the income from privately mined jade simply couldn’t be declared.

Otherwise, it would cause too many unstable factors.

So he immediately got in touch with Feng Jun, warning him that someone might be looking into his personal income tax.

“Nonsense!” Feng Jun sneered coldly, “If they really investigate taxes, there’ll be a lot of lawsuits. I’ll just say that Li Dafu withheld the tax.”

He had some understanding of taxation and knew there were many interpretations at play.

For instance, if a person had ten million and used it to buy financial products from a bank, earning income from it, in this era, that income would not be taxed, as it’s essentially bank deposit interest which was once subject to personal income tax.

If a personal investment of ten million earned a six percent annual return, that’s a profit of six hundred thousand in a year; how could such a large sum not be taxed?

This leads to another issue; the projects involved in the financial products people buy are not only profitable through the interest earned on those products. Thus, the income received by an individual is after-tax income, indicating that personal income tax has already been withheld by the project.

Of course, not every project makes money, but that’s another topic entirely.

Anyway, personal income tax might have been confusingly withheld, so it doesn’t count as tax evasion.

Is it possible for jewelry businesses like Li Dafu to have withheld Feng Jun’s taxes?

That’s a rather nonsensical topic—improbable.

However, the jewelry industry is known for its high barriers to entry and high profits, and taxes are exorbitantly high.

Therefore, Feng Jun could assume that his share of taxes is included, even if Li Dafu doesn’t acknowledge it; undoubtedly, the jade he provided contributed to tax revenue in both the circulation process and the consumer market.

Thus, he steadfastly believed he was paying taxes according to the law; it’s just that his income wasn’t convenient to disclose.

Of course, this was just his own view, which might not be shared by others, but one thing was clear—if he hadn’t brought these jades from the Mobile Phone realm, there’d be no corresponding tax revenue.

In fact, Feng Jun didn’t think anyone would track him through Li Dafu’s financials. As the leader of Funiu Province’s state-owned jewelry industry, Li Dafu’s real accounts could never withstand scrutiny; they were too complicated and could only be discussed privately at best.

To be honest, Li Dafu was more afraid of bringing the issue to light than Feng Jun was.

Still, Wang Haifeng remained deeply concerned, “But if the tax authorities really go after you, no one can stop them.”

“At most, I’ll just have to make up the tax payment,” Feng Jun replied indifferently, “The question is, can they even figure out how much I’ve made?”

The jade he sold had confusing accounts in many companies.

Even if the accounts weren’t confusing, he wasn’t afraid. Money is the greatest force; as long as he wasn’t afraid of fines, what big deal could it be?

If the fines were excessive, he wouldn’t necessarily comply; he’d just go to court if needed.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Truthfully, the jade market is a mess; if a lawsuit starts, who knows how many people will get into trouble.

Wang Haifeng watched him for a good while before speaking gravely, “Boss… you don’t have a company, but Sister Hong does.”

“Damn,” Feng Jun raised his hand and smacked his forehead hard.

Thinking about this, he felt quite helpless.

Faced with pressure from all directions, after his initial patience, he actually launched a fierce counterattack.

But Zhang Hongfei’s withdrawal was quiet and unnoticed, and Ermao ran away swiftly and decisively. What was deadly was that although these two had backed off, the message that ‘Luohua Manor is not to be trifled with’ hadn’t spread.

Then there’s Zhao Haicheng, who really had his hands injured and one of his arms broken, symbolizing “Don’t reach out carelessly.”

But… disputes arising during a toast; what the hell is that about?

Feng Jun knew that both Zhang Hongfei and Ermao definitely had their own ulterior motives, but after his fierce counterstrike, only the main offenders backed down, while others stumbled forward oblivious, which made him somewhat exasperated.

Of course, helpless as he was, under no circumstances could he let Sister Hong be implicated because of him.

After some thought, he picked up his mobile phone and gave Yuan Huapeng a call. He explained the situation briefly, certainly omitting things that couldn’t be said, “…So that’s the situation, the tax authorities might investigate me; how should I handle this?”

“Financially speaking, they can’t investigate an individual, especially since you’re not within the system,” Yuan Huapeng replied confidently, “Legally, they can go after you, but once you fight back… it’s people within the system who will be making things difficult for you, right?”

“Digging into economic accounts is the lowest and least efficient method. Nobody’s behind is completely clean, and unless it’s a case where an official is definitely going down and just lacks a charge, no one would resort to this method.”

“So relax, they’re just trying to scare you. What does a natural person like you have to fear? At worst, it’ll be a fine… hmm, who’s the short-sighted person trying to mess with you?”

Feng Jun made this call for two reasons: one was to seek advice, and the other was to give the Yuan Family a heads-up—I might need you.

Yuan Huapeng’s response pleased him greatly; it seemed the Yuan Family still understood the importance of reciprocity.

However, he didn’t plan to use this connection lightly; as things were still under control. Crucially, he believed the Yuan Family didn’t really lack anything from him; their previous interactions had been purely transactional, with each party fulfilling its own needs.

In keeping with his character, once someone helped him out, he would definitely feel indebted—owing a favor is something to be repaid, and a favor is the hardest kind of debt to repay—just thinking about Zhou Xiaotong gave him a headache.

Therefore, he kindly declined Yuan Huapeng’s offer and, after hanging up, he shifted his focus to another crucial point—individuals were not afraid of being investigated, but what about legal persons?

He was genuinely worried about Sister Hong… but he couldn’t possibly contact her.

No matter how you looked at it, his conversation with Yuan Huapeng had broadened his thinking.

After hanging up his mobile phone, he pondered for a while and then made a call to the bank to schedule a withdrawal.

After all, having money in the account was the crux. Now, I’ll just transfer the money away and see what they can investigate then.

He believed that changes in the balance of his account could effectively alleviate any pressure Hongjie might be facing.

As for where to transfer the money? He planned to spread it out to other banks first, or to securities firms if necessary, and when the opportunity arose, he might also make large cash withdrawals.

He thought to himself that if he got desperate, he could launder the money through Macau’s casinos as he did the first time he bought explosives.

At that time, he could say he had gambled it all away—if they accused him of not paying taxes, he could claim the money was already lost, and he’d be interested to see how much they could demand in back taxes or fines.

In any case, he couldn’t let his money just sit idly in the bank any longer.

His funds were primarily deposited in Zhengyang’s city commercial bank, amounting to over a hundred million.

When he called to schedule a large withdrawal, the bank’s relationship manager was clearly flustered, “President Feng, why are you withdrawing such a large sum of money?”

Feng Jun was already displeased with the relationship manager. If it weren’t for this guy’s inability to keep his mouth shut, spreading the news all over town, would he be in such a passive position now?

Of course, the relationship manager had originally been trying to help facilitate business, introducing suitable designers and contractors, which Feng Jun had agreed to—it couldn’t be said that the manager was overstepping his bounds.

But the crux of the problem was, even if you’re facilitating business, you should be conscious of maintaining client confidentiality.

Feng Jun wasn’t certain where the leak came from, but he could easily blame the bank—it was either your bank’s staff leaking information or your bank introducing me to unreliable clients.

In the end, it was the bank’s fault.

Upon hearing the question, Feng Jun responded impatiently, “Of course I have my arrangements for withdrawing money, why ask so many questions?”

But the relationship manager on the other end replied tactfully that such a significant movement of funds definitely garnered attention because if anything inappropriate happened, or if it disturbed the financial market, it would mean they had failed in their duty.

Feng Jun couldn’t help but laugh in irritation, “Are you kidding me? A mere sum of over a hundred million can disturb the financial market? To be exact, I’m just making a withdrawal, not cashing out. I’m transferring it to other banks, and they can take over your concern.”

“President Feng, it’s different,” the relationship manager explained apologetically, with a cautious and humble tone, emphasizing that the bank had a right to know where such a large sum of money was going.

Feng Jun found this ridiculous; it wasn’t like he hadn’t spent large sums before. The underground money houses in Yangcheng didn’t give a damn about these obstacles when collecting large amounts of money.

So he retorted bluntly, “I’m just wondering, is this money mine or the city commercial bank’s?”

With no other choice, the relationship manager could only sigh in resignation, “Let me consult my superiors first.”

It was not until this point that Feng Jun noticed anything amiss with the bank’s reaction; after all, they would definitely try their best to retain a client’s deposit.

After waiting two hours without a call back from the relationship manager, Feng Jun muttered under his breath in frustration, “You’re so enthusiastic when it’s time to deposit, but why is it like this when withdrawing?”

He then called back, and the relationship manager picked up immediately, apologizing profusely and explaining that he couldn’t get hold of his superior right now. “Could you wait a bit longer, President Feng?”

“Don’t play these games with me,” Feng Jun snapped, “You can delay for a day or two, but can you delay for three days, five days, ten days, or half a month? Really shortsighted… Do you think it’s worth it to offend me over a bit of performance?”

The relationship manager paused, then covered the mouthpiece and whispered, “President Feng, the higher-ups have spoken. There’s a cash flow crunch in the bank lately, and we’ve been asked to prevent large clients from withdrawing money… especially you.”

He didn’t want to say this, but as a bank employee, he knew all too well the tremendous power of a billionaire and certainly didn’t want to be hated by one.

“Especially me?” Feng Jun’s lips twitched, feeling the malice through the phone.

He asked, voice chilling, “Well, which superior said that?”

(Second update, Alliance Leader marrying off with his loved ones. Still seeking monthly votes. Also, can everyone hold back on the hype? I’m exhausted from frequent updates.)