National Tide 1980.

In this era, the Republic already had the crime of possessing huge amounts of property of unknown origin.

However, this law mainly targets corrupt officials who hold public office.

Ordinary people rarely commit such a crime.

In addition, during this era, the Republic also stipulated that citizens must pay taxes on their overseas income in accordance with the law, and that certain high-income earners must pay personal income tax.

In fact, most citizens of the republic at that time were completely unaware that if they earned income far exceeding that of ordinary people, they would have to pay personal income tax.

People don't even consider paying personal income tax as a civic duty.

Even if they know the relevant laws and regulations, they all hold the thought, "Why should I pay taxes on the money I earned through my labor and skills?" and turn a deaf ear to them.

Therefore, even if someone's income does reach the threshold for paying taxes, no one will voluntarily pay them; instead, people will think that those who do pay taxes are fools.

Otherwise, after so many years of reform and opening up, there would always be a few high-income representatives who meet the criteria among those who do business in China or go abroad to make money.

Some people have already begun to emulate the elite groups in developed countries, playing golf, living in villas, driving luxury cars, and hosting parties, creating an upper-class persona and lifestyle for themselves.

But why don't we see them voluntarily paying their individual income tax?

In the domestic entertainment industry, some top stars who are very popular and have great commercial value have started to charge appearance fees exceeding 10,000 yuan.

Their gray income is also considerable, and it definitely meets the standards for individual income tax payable in China.

But why is it that no one takes the initiative to do so, and instead, after entering the 1990s, scandals of some celebrities evading taxes are exposed from time to time?
Ultimately, the root cause lies in the fact that people in contemporary Chinese society generally lack sufficient understanding and correct awareness of the matter of paying personal income tax.

Moreover, the number of people who meet this standard is too small, and the government has countless more important things to do.

So, don't be fooled by the fact that Ning Weimin brought back so much money this time.

However, given the current objective circumstances, he can avoid paying the relevant taxes and fees without any consequences. No one will come knocking on his door to collect the debt, let alone impose any corresponding penalties.

Even if the tax authorities do come to his door to inquire about this matter in the future, he can pretend to be ignorant and use the excuse that he does not know the relevant regulations or does not understand the relevant laws to evade the question.

Even if someone were to target him and deliberately make things difficult for him, it wouldn't matter.

After all, he owns multiple companies overseas. As long as the profits are registered under the names of those companies, he can legally avoid taxes through legitimate financial means and still not have to pay taxes.

However, everyone's specific circumstances are different, and their mindset and abilities vary.

For others, being able to exploit this loophole to avoid paying taxes might be a dream come true.

But for Ning Weimin, it was a completely different story.

The reason is easy to understand.

First of all, Ning Weimin is not a small-time vendor; he is destined to do big business.

The business empire he planned for himself in China was enormous, far exceeding the imagination of anyone in this era.

Especially since he returned to China with ample funds this time, he plans to seize high-quality resources and integrate his domestic businesses before the domestic economy has fully developed, thus completing the initial layout.

Therefore, it is conceivable that even from the perspective of the legality of the investment, he would need to pay taxes to prove that the source of these funds is legitimate.

Moreover, someone like him is destined to control a lot of top resources and will surely become a legendary figure in the domestic business world. If he were to be exposed for tax evasion in the future, would that be acceptable?

He doesn't need to do this for a few pennies.

As the saying goes, "He who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present." Whether for the sake of his company's reputation or his personal reputation, Ning Weimin absolutely does not want to be suspected of tax evasion.

Secondly, not to mention that Ning Weimin himself is a person with a strong sense of national responsibility.

Although he was an orphan, taking pride in his Chinese bloodline remained his deeply ingrained nature.

Putting everything else aside, what was his purpose in going to Japan to exploit people?

It's definitely not just about getting rich for myself.

He also hopes to use the wealth he has gained in Japan to give back to his hometown and contribute his efforts to realizing the vision of a prosperous and strong nation as soon as possible.

So, besides investing back in China, paying taxes is certainly one of the necessary practical actions.

Otherwise, his so-called "patriotism" would just be empty talk without any action, and he'd be fooling no one.

Because Ning Weimin felt a sense of responsibility and obligation, he has always been a moral exemplar in voluntarily paying taxes.

In fact, he had already started paying personal income tax proactively in the early stages of his business in Japan.

Whether it was the bonus he received from the Tan Palace Restaurant or the income he earned from Pierre Carton Company, he declared and paid the corresponding amount to the Beijing Municipal Tax Bureau after each return to China.

Later, even when he shared his bonus with all the domestic employees of the Tokyo Tangu branch, he withheld enough taxes in advance before distributing the rest of the money to everyone.

After returning to Beijing, he will still represent everyone in paying individual income tax at the tax office.

To be honest, in recent years, the total amount of individual income tax paid by Ning Weimin on behalf of all the people at the Beijing Municipal Tax Bureau has reached at least two million yuan.

As a result, he gradually became a celebrity in the Beijing Municipal Tax Bureau.

From the bureau chief to the clerk, there may be people in the tax bureau who have never met him, but there is absolutely no one who doesn't know his name.

Many people even made it a topic of conversation to talk about his repeated refusals of the tax bureau's offer to publish commendations for him.

Almost everyone was curious about how he could be so generous yet so aloof.

He doesn't care about money at all, and he doesn't even care about honors. What is he after?

Therefore, Ning Weimin will still have to pay taxes upon returning to China this time.

What troubled him was that he had brought back 20 billion yen this time, which was really too much money. Just think, even according to the official exchange rate, this amount of money was equivalent to 700 million RMB.

If he were to voluntarily pay taxes, the amount would likely be in the hundreds of millions.

In this day and age, who in the Republic has so many assets?
Let alone having hundreds of millions in wealth, very few people even have ten million.

Having a fortune of over a million already makes one one of the elite in the domestic business world.

It is fair to say that the large sum of money Ning Weimin brought back was far beyond the imagination of most people in this era.

What kind of effect would it have if he just handed it over like that?
Absolutely out of control!
In fact, not to mention the people in the tax bureau, even the comrades from the special departments who went to Tokyo with him to work as security guards at the restaurant, such as Bian Gang and Zheng Qiang, still can't face this matter normally.

That's right, Bian Gang and Zheng Qiang have already made several guest appearances as Ning Weimin's bodyguards in Tokyo.

They not only knew about Ning Weimin's financial speculation and the sale of Ginza real estate, but they even helped with some of the things.

But they still couldn't imagine, and dared not believe, that Ning Weimin could really gain such a huge profit from it.

Ning Weimin's earnings once shocked and bewildered them, leaving them feeling conflicted and distressed.

For no other reason than that they have a responsibility to report everything they know back home.

But they still didn't have enough to eat, and what consequences would this have on Ning Weimin?

In the end, Ning Weimin took the initiative to tell them that he didn't intend to hide anything from them by letting them participate. He just hoped that they would be honest and explain to the domestic community how they earned this money. Only then did they feel relieved.

So no matter what, Ning Weimin's return to China always presents only one problem—he's bound to attract attention and become a target of criticism.

He didn't want to rashly donate such a large sum of money and cause an excessive sensation, nor did he want to bring unnecessary trouble upon himself. At the same time, he didn't want to let down the country and genuinely wanted to do something practical for his hometown, which made things difficult.

So how do you pay taxes, and how can you find enough protection for yourself?

How to avoid being targeted by malicious people and being eaten up has become a skill that requires careful attention.

The best solution Ning Weimin could think of after much thought was to return and immediately seek an audience with Huo Yanping to see if this director of the "First Department" could act as his protector.

It seems that this is the only influential person he knows in official circles, and he can only hope that Huo Yanping's connections can resolve this matter properly.

And as the old saying goes, money should be spent wisely.

There's a severe shortage of money everywhere in China right now, and the Beijing government is probably really strapped for cash to host the Asian Games.

Ning Weimin certainly didn't want his money to be arbitrarily intercepted by someone or misappropriated for some meaningless purpose after he handed it in.

If Huo Yanping is involved, at least it can be ensured that the money is used through normal procedures, which is also an advantage.

Even so, Huo Yanping was not someone Ning Weimin could see whenever he wanted.

Although Ning Weimin called several times, eager to visit Huo Yanping, Huo Yanping no longer had as much time as before.

He's very busy, with a tight schedule every day, and lately he can't find a suitable time to go.

Later, Ning Weimin waited a full week, until mid-May, before receiving a call from Huo Yanping's secretary, Peng Yuan, informing him that he could go to Huo Yanping's house to see him at 7 p.m. the next day.

Ning Weimin was not unhappy at all; he felt extremely fortunate.

Because Peng Yuan was very kind to him, he even revealed some inside information to him, saying that Huo Yanping's position was likely to be moved up again.

Needless to say, if Huo Yanping were to move up another rank, he would become a vice-minister, which would mean that his influence would be even greater.

In this way, the difficulty of what Ning Weimin asked for will be greatly reduced. Isn't that a great thing?
So when Ning Weimin went to keep the appointment that day, he specially prepared a Parker gold pen, a bottle of Hennessy XO and a set of "Edo Kiriko" sake utensils as gifts for Huo Yanping.

However, once they arrived at the destination, although Ning Weimin did think that Huo Yanping might be eating at this time, and might even ask him to sit down and eat and chat with him, and have a few drinks.

But he never expected that Huo Yanping and his wife would not be the only guests at the Huo family's dinner table that day. There was also a strange couple sitting there.

This was a situation he had never faced before, and it caught him off guard.

Needless to say, the original plan had to be changed. Even things that were on the tip of their tongues could not be said in front of outsiders for the time being. They would probably have to find another opportunity.

Of course, this does not mean that Huo Yanping only entertained Ning Weimin at his own home, and that Ning Weimin did not entertain anyone else.

The key point is that Huo Yanping's guests were almost all officials, and usually held high positions.

So when Huo Yanping was entertaining these colleagues, Ning Weimin, who was just a businessman, was clearly not qualified to be present on such an occasion.

Why is this happening today? It's really unusual.

However, just as Ning Weimin was confused by this, Huo Yanping was very enthusiastic when he saw Ning Weimin enter the house.

When they shook hands, Huo Yanping specifically pulled Ning Weimin aside to introduce him to the other two guests, speaking of them with great admiration.

"That's him, the one I just introduced to you, the overseas manager of Pierre Cardin. Don't let his young age fool you, he's incredibly capable. He invented that rolling suitcase. And after going to Japan, he really made a name for himself, establishing a significant presence there in just a few years. Xiao Ning, these two are my old colleagues and friends. This is Mayor Xiao, and this is his wife. You can call them Uncle Xiao and Aunt Zhong. They're about to go to Hainan to take up their posts. You love traveling, so if you have the chance to go to Hainan, don't forget to pay them a visit."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and handshakes, Ning Weimin realized that Huo Yanping had come prepared, and was clearly trying to introduce him to his connections in officialdom.

Does Director Huo think the other party can help me?
Or perhaps he thinks it's something I can do to help the other person?
In any case, Hainan is indeed within his business plan, and it is certainly worth getting to know.

So as soon as he sat down, Ning Weimin deliberately started a conversation, trying to find out what was going on.

Of course, he himself was aware of his own identity.

In terms of personal relationships, he could only be considered Huo Yanping's close friend despite their age difference; he wasn't Huo's son-in-law.

Although Huo Yanping said that, he still needed to stay within his bounds and not address him too intimately.

"Mayor Xiao, Hainan is such a wonderful place! To be honest, I've wanted to visit it for a long time, but unfortunately, I've never had the chance. If you and Aunt Zhong could really be transferred there, I'd be so envious!" (End of Chapter)