Chapter 249: Tax Trap (One More Chapter)
"Lord Lord, Lady Natasha, you don't seem to be going to accept Tamara's proposal?" Roland observed the subtle changes in the couple's facial expressions, and already had a hunch in his heart, "If I'm not mistaken, Tamara should have a plan B, which is an alternative." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biqugeγ infoβ
The couple couldn't help but glance at each other when they heard this, and their faces were surprised.
"Indeed, as you suspected, after our plan to take a stake in the mine was rejected by us, Tamara came up with a new financing plan." Beowulf now had no doubts about Roland's mind, and simply told the truth.
"The plan proposed by Tamara before is too resistant, which she should have expected, knowing that it is unlikely to pass and throwing it out, in fact, it is a trick to retreat into advance, and the second plan is her real appeal, let's talk about it, what does she want to get this time?" Roland asked with a smile.
"Tamara's second plan, on terms that seem to be more favorable to us, is that she promises to provide Kitland with an interest-free loan of five million, and there is only one condition - we must promise to contract the tax rights for the next ten years to the Twilight Fund, and we will also authorize her to set up a tax police and a tax prison, and we will authorize these agencies to use violent means to catch those who evade taxes if necessary."
Natasha was familiar with taxation in the city and knew that collecting taxes was a big problem. Tamara can save the current city hall in the management cost of tax collection by contracting the tax revenue, and the tax should be paid every year, so why not package and sell this cumbersome public business to a private company, which is both laborious and worry-free for her as a city manager, and can also get a loan to solve the urgent need. So she was inclined to accept the plan.
Beowulf felt that this plan did not seem appropriate, but he couldn't tell what was wrong, and he was still hesitant to accept it.
Roland took a leisurely sip of the teacup, but his face changed when he listened to it, put down the teacup and let out a long breath of turbidity, and admonished Beowulf and Natasha with an unprecedented solemn expression: "If you accept Tamara's second plan, with all due respect, you and your wife will be the greatest sinners in Kitland's history, and you will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame in history - because you are sending your children and grandchildren on the road to slavery with your own hands!" β
There are two major events in human society, production and distribution.
Production is primarily an economic issue, while distribution is primarily a political one.
As far as production is concerned, there are nothing more than three questions: what to produce, how to produce, and for whom?
The lack of efficiency in individual production, the need for survival forces people to unite, so there are social systems ranging from the state to the family, and people are organized for more efficient production through an open and clear system.
How the produced product is distributed is a big question, another question is who will distribute it?
The birth of the tax system is mainly to solve the problem of distribution, and in terms of the current social structure alone, the right to tax is not only one of the sovereignty of the state, but also the source of public power of the government.
Without tax revenue, it is impossible to meet fiscal needs, establish a sound bureaucratic system for effective governance, maintain public services and defense spending, and mediate the gap between the rich and the poor through transfer payments to alleviate contradictions among all levels of society. If a family is still "poor and lowly couples mourn everything", what is the use of a government that is too poor to open the pot? What to sustain the rule?
It is precisely because taxation is too important to the national economy and people's livelihood that how can the important weapon of the country be faked?
Why is the tax package system the root of all evil?
Why is Tamara's plan No. 2 a malicious intention?
Beowulf and Natasha couldn't imagine the harm of a "beautiful-looking" tax system, and how could Roland, as a traveler from Earth, not know what would happen if he contracted the tax right to a private person? The fall of the empire probably began with financial failure, with ancient Rome in the west and the Great Song Dynasty in the east, how could he forget the bloody and tearful lessons in the history books?
Faced with the confused eyes of Beowulf and Natasha, Roland issued the harshest warning.
"If Tamara succeeds in controlling Kitland's tax system, she will control Kitland's financial lifeline, and the next step will be to demand the formation of a private bank, the right to mint money and the right to issue money, and at the same time, you will lose your financial sovereignty step by step, and you will have to follow her baton called 'Golden Power' in her hands, and your children and grandchildren will be reduced to slaves who work for Tamara forever!" When that day comes, will this city still be home to you Kitlanders? Are you willing to accept the fate of the dove occupying the magpie's nest? β
"Nope! Of course, we can't accept such a loan with evil intentions! Natasha excitedly snapped the case, "But it's easy to say no to Tamara, but it's hard to solve the problem, what do you think we can do to alleviate the current financial crisis?" β
"What if I don't have money?" Roland smiled, "Children know, of course, they are looking for rich people to borrow money. β
Natasha was angry with him, "You kid don't talk cool, I have already borrowed everything I can borrow, and now except for Tamara and her Twilight Foundation, no other institution can give us a huge sum of 5 million at one time, since you rejected Tamara, where else do you let me borrow money?" β
Roland shook his head and patiently explained to her: "Lady Natasha, borrowing money is a university question, and there are countless borrowing methods, some borrowing methods hide traps, and some borrowing methods can benefit both borrowers and borrowers, and I am talking about the latter borrowing method. β
"What is the specific borrowing method, you can tell me." Natasha asked, unconvinced.
Roland took a sip of water, held the teacup and smiled: "It's very simple, we don't take out loans, we sell bonds." β
"Bonds?" Beowulf and Natasha looked at each other, and in the literal sense of the word, they could not see the difference between bonds and loans in general.
"Specifically, it is to issue a group of ultra-short-term financing bonds, with a total face value of 5 million gold coins, and liquidate the principal and interest 30 days from the date of issuance...... I think 6% is a very reasonable number. β
Natasha listened to his explanation and muttered to the calculation: "In this way, in addition to the 5 million principal in 30 days, we will also pay 300,000 gold coins of interest, which is already very high and attractive for short-term investment!" β
Of course, buying bonds should not only look at the returns, but also look at the potential default risk.
Since it is an issuance of bonds, it is reasonable to have collateral. Of course, the safest collateral is expected taxes, but unfortunately, Beowulf and Natasha have already pledged the next five years of tax revenue to the Yangbo Chamber of Commerce for a round of financing.
The upfront investment in the tournament, the budget for the renovation of the arena, and the urban renovation project have exhausted this huge amount of loans, and if the couple continue to use future taxes as collateral for a second round of financing, they may have trouble with credit evaluation, and second, long-term debt will also bring great pressure.
In particular, after listening to Roland's analysis of the dangers of losing tax sovereignty, the couple was also wary of the Yangbo Chamber of Commerce, considering that borrowing must inevitably accept the other party's additional conditions, such as reducing tariffs on imported goods, such as being forced to implement austerity financial policies, which will damage the sovereignty of Kitland City, increase the burden on the people, and may even shake the foundation of their governance, so they are reluctant to continue to use taxes as collateral for financing.
Roland understood their concerns, and after some deliberation, made some changes to the original bond scheme, and finally proposed an improvement - using the expected returns of the tournament as collateral for the issuance of bonds. (To be continued.) )