american tax collector

Chapter 316: The Long-awaited Trial

After Keppel left, David's phone on the desk rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Donald calling. He immediately picked up the phone and said, "Deputy Director Donald."

"David, the incident involving Dumb Amazon has had a huge impact. The major media giants have put a lot of pressure on us. We at the General Administration have also discussed and decided to let the media in. Let them see our fair and open judgment!"

In the past, the IRS did not allow the media to enter the trial scene because many cases were difficult to convict according to judicial procedures. In order to avoid causing controversy from the outside world, they chose a closed trial.

But this time, the hidden tax alone is enough to nail Amazon Group down, so directly holding an open trial will be more beneficial to the IRS in terms of both image and public opinion.

"I understand, I'll make arrangements right now!"

After hanging up the phone, David immediately handed Keppel in and said, "Tell the media that this trial will be broadcast live!"

In front of the Los Angeles Internal Revenue Service.

A staff member in charge of speaking came out and said to the media: "Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me. In order to ensure the fairness and openness of this trial, we will adopt a public live broadcast method for this trial. Now I will select a few media outlets who will enter the trial scene later..."

"What? The IRS is actually opening a public live broadcast this time."

"This is great! We can hear with our own ears exactly where Amazon has violated tax regulations, and we can also see the embarrassing looks of the Amazon Group's top executives!"

"The Los Angeles IRS actually dared to adopt a public live broadcast method, so they must have sufficient evidence in their hands. Amazon is in great danger this time!"

After hearing the announcement from the Los Angeles IRS, the media at the scene and the public on social media were excited.

Should I ask them if they want to see real-time footage of the trial?

Of course I thought so.

And what are they most looking forward to seeing?

Of course, it was the expressions and looks displayed by Jeff and other senior executives of the Amazon Group after the charges were confirmed.

Let them see whether the big shots who used to be high and mighty would be terrified after being convicted or even ending up in jail.

While the media and the public were still discussing the matter, a group of senior executives at Amazon also received the news. Among them, Jeff's face turned terribly dark.

He came here in person and asked to meet David, but David still refused to see him and even sent a signal to the media that they could enter the venue for live broadcast. What does this mean?
This means that the Los Angeles IRS is not 100% sure of convicting them, but at least 80% to 90% sure. This is a big trouble!
He has experienced numerous ups and downs in his life, but he believes that the current situation may be the most critical crisis in his life!

After a few minutes of silence, Jeff finally took out his phone, then walked to a corner and silently made several calls...

The time came to 12.20.

Today's trial starts at 12.30:10, and there are still minutes left, so a large number of invited people have already entered the courtroom on the seventh floor.

At this time, the media invited to come in for live broadcast have already set up their cameras and are ready to broadcast everything happening on the scene in real time.

When the time reached 12.25:, David, who had just come out of the judge's office, also arrived at the scene.

He looked around the gallery and found that there were quite a few big names from the political and business circles here today, even California Governor Borgwana, the Deputy Governor, the Secretary of State, and members of both houses of Congress.

When he looked to the end, he found the people from the Amazon Group sitting in the lower right corner, and these people did not shy away from looking into his eyes. Among them, Jeff's eyes were particularly gloomy, and if you looked closely, you could even find a hint of resentment.

But David didn't pay much attention to it. He walked straight to the audience seat belonging to the Los Angeles Internal Revenue Department and sat down.

When the time reached 12.30: sharp, Nicola, wearing a judge's robe, walked out from the right aisle, and everyone at the scene stood up according to the procedure.

"Bang, the case against Dumb Amazon for alleged tax violations is now open!"

As Judge Nicola dropped the gavel, the people at the scene and those watching immediately became focused.

"Now please invite the accuser, the Los Angeles Internal Revenue Department, to come out and speak!"

David stood up from his seat, walked to the front of the stage with a document, and said: "It is well known that Amazon has not paid a penny of tax over the years, but I think many people don't know how they did it. I need to explain here. First of all, they relied on a policy called 'value-added tax reduction'. As the name suggests..."

"So that's it..."

"With the help of Director David, I now understand the tax avoidance operation of Amazon..."

After his explanation, some people at the scene and those watching the live broadcast who were not very clear about taxes finally understood it.

They said, how come Amazon has been able to avoid paying taxes for so many years? It turns out that it was by taking advantage of this policy.

"Okay, now we get to the point. VAT reduction is indeed a tax policy of our IRS. If companies use it to avoid taxes according to procedures, our IRS will collect a lot less taxes, but we won't mind. But if a company clearly does not meet the VAT reduction standards but insists on using this policy in violation of regulations, and has been using it for several years, then our IRS can't keep suffering from this loss, right?"

After David finished speaking, there was quite an uproar both at the scene and online.

"Some companies clearly have not met the standards for value-added tax reduction, but have been using this policy in violation of regulations." Who else could this refer to other than the Amazon Group that is now being accused?
On the defendant's side, no one noticed that Lacroix and other members of the Amazon Law Department all looked a little unnatural.

As the legal department of the group, they are of course very clear about how the group avoids taxes, and this value-added tax reduction just accounts for 40 percentage points of the group's tax reduction.

But then again.

After the Los Angeles IRS announced that it would investigate them, they have been working overtime day and night to deal with the issue. Could it be that they have been caught?

Regardless of what these people were saying, David raised the document in his hand and said, "Your Honor, I have an investigation report here that proves that from 2017 to now, the Amazon Group has been using this policy in violation of regulations, and relying on this policy, they have at least evaded nearly billion US dollars in tax!"

"Evaded nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars in taxes..."

After hearing such a number, people in the audience and those watching the live broadcast couldn't help but gasp.

The document was soon presented to Nicola. After opening it and carefully examining it for ten minutes, she turned her head to look at Lacroix and others in the dock and asked, "Defendant's representative, according to this document report from the Los Angeles Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati, Ohio, Montpelier, Vermont, and... these places said that the value-added tax reductions they enjoyed did not meet the standards of the local government. How do you explain this?" "Your Honor, I want to see this document."

"can."

The document was quickly taken away by the court staff and handed over to La Croix, who and the entire legal department members immediately examined it carefully.

But as the contents gradually came into view, the expressions of each of them became extremely ugly.

Although they have been dealing with this issue for some time.

However, there is a very important rule in the value-added tax reduction, which is that the factory's equipment and facilities must meet the requirements of local government indicators.

A large number of equipment and facilities here have to be booked in advance from some companies before they can be delivered.

But in such a short time, how could they possibly make a reservation or even get the goods delivered?

The problem now is that David didn't know where he got the detailed data of the factories in these regions. If they wanted to quibble, they only needed to send someone to the local factory to do some calculations to confirm it. So they had no way to quibble even if they wanted to.

At this time, La Croix was completely desperate. He turned his head to look at the audience seats where the group's top executives were sitting and shook his head slightly.

Although Jeff and others had not read the document report, they understood it even if they were stupid enough when they saw La Croix's performance.

This document report is definitely the kind that is difficult to refute, and the first charge against their group is likely to be confirmed!

"How about the defendant's representative, do you have any objection to this document report?"

Hearing Nicola's question on the stage, Lacroix and others looked at each other, and finally Wilbur said: "Your Honor, for the policy of value-added tax reduction, we mainly coordinate with the state governments. I think the IRS does not understand the details well enough, so we should put it on hold for the time being and let us negotiate with the states..."

This was a solution Wilbur came up with after racking his brains.

The reason is very simple, because each state has its own way of taxation, and the main details of this policy are indeed negotiated between them and the state governments. If it can be defined as being under the jurisdiction of the state government, then they may be able to make a big deal out of a small matter, instead of being used as an excuse by the IRS to accuse them.

Each state in the United States has independent jurisdiction, and the same is true for taxation. This argument is not far-fetched, so Nicola did not refute it directly, but looked at David.

"Your Honor, I admit that what the defendant's representative said makes some sense, but there is no need to set it aside, because I have already invited the tax auditors of these states. Why not let them come to court to explain it?"

When he heard that David had invited tax auditors from all the states, Wilber-Lacroix was completely desperate.

If they can invite these people here, they must be confident that they can get them to stand on their side. So their purpose of pinning the value-added tax reduction on the state government and then making a big deal out of a small matter is likely to fail.

"Okay, then ask them to come out."

Soon, an IRS inspector came out from the left passage with four people.

When the four arrived at the scene, the leader was the first to speak: "Your Honor, I am the tax auditor of the Ohio State Government, my name is Morata."

"Your Honor, I am the tax auditor of the Vermont state government. My name is Luke Wu."

"Your Honor..."

After the four introduced themselves, Nicola said, "Four auditors, we have a document against Mason for violating the VAT in your state. What do you think?"

The court staff handed the document to Morata, and the four tax auditors also examined it carefully.

After reading it, Morata spoke first: "Your Honor, according to this report, Amazon's value-added tax reduction in our state has indeed not met the target."

"The same standard, your honor, is also not met in our state of Vermont."

"..."

After reading the document report, the four of them all spoke with the same voice.

"Well, according to the statement of the representative of the Amazon Group, the details of the value-added tax reduction were reached with your state governments, and this matter should be negotiated with your states. What do you think?"

Listening to Nicola's question, Morata immediately responded: "Your Honor, regarding the policy of value-added tax reduction, the Amazon Group did reach a detailed agreement with our state, but this is a tax policy issued by the IRS. The IRS has jurisdiction, and the IRS's jurisdiction over taxation is much more professional than our state tax departments. I think it should be left to the IRS to handle."

"Your Honor, Auditor Morata and I share the same view. First, this is the policy of the IRS and the IRS has jurisdiction. Second, this is the result of the IRS investigation, so we should not interfere."

"..."

The auditors of four states spoke one after another, and their content was consistent, that is, to hand the matter over to the IRS, and the IRS absolutely has jurisdiction.

"In other words, you are willing to hand over the jurisdiction to the Los Angeles Internal Revenue Department. Are you sure?"

Nicola confirmed again.

"We confirm!"

The four of them answered in unison.

"it is good!"

Nicola turned to look at Lacroix and the others and asked, "Delegates from Mason, now that the states have acknowledged that you are suspected of violating the policy of value-added tax reduction, and are willing to hand over jurisdiction to the IRS, do you have anything else to say?"

After hearing that David had called the auditors from various states, Wilber, Lacroix and others knew that there was no hope, so what could they say at this time? They all lowered their heads and remained silent.

(End of this chapter)