American comic book: Absolute Spider-Man

Dr. Connors’s laboratory is located at Imperial State University in Manhattan.

Although he is a university professor, the main funder of his laboratory is the U.S. military.

Connors studied lizard genes initially just to regrow his own arm, but later hoped to save wounded soldiers who had lost limbs in the war.

"When I learned that my life's pursuit had been achieved, I was actually a little sad, but mostly I was relieved. Your technology didn't fall into the hands of the military. Otherwise, our country's young men and innocent civilians from other countries would have suffered even more undeserved calamities."

After hearing Peter's purpose, Connors couldn't help but sigh.

Peter looked at Connors's empty right arm and said:

"Although the second-generation Extremis virus in front of us is stable, the cost is too high. From the first generation to the second generation, billions of dollars have been invested in its research and development."

Today, the manufacturing cost of a single injection is in the millions.

The third-generation Extremis virus being developed in front of Tony has actually gone astray.

The cost of the third-generation Extremis virus has not decreased; on the contrary, it has continued to rise, with the cost of enhancing a single person exceeding one hundred million US dollars.

Tony really isn't very good at cheap technology.

So we turned our attention to you, Dr. Connors.

We hope you can join this project and be responsible for the low-cost, low-enhancement approach to the Extremis virus, so that this technology can truly be used for human well-being.

Connors pondered for a moment and then said, "It sounds very tempting, but I'm afraid I can't join you right away."

He explained, "My research project has reached its final stage. If I were to leave now, it would not only be a breach of contract with the military funders, but also an abandonment of my own years of hard work."

The regenerative gene agent I'm researching has already made groundbreaking progress in animals. Once we complete a few more rounds of stabilization tests, it will be able to enter the clinical trial phase and help countless soldiers and civilians like myself who have lost limbs.

"Perhaps in the future, my research findings can directly become a secondary alternative to the Extremis virus, and you won't have to worry about reducing costs anymore."

He laughed as he spoke, "You wouldn't try to suppress me just because my technology overlaps with yours in the market, would you?"

Peter sensed the joking tone in his words and laughed, saying, "If that day ever comes, we'll just snatch your technology from the military."

"I really look forward to that day coming soon."

Peter and Connors exchanged contact information: "If there are any funding or other problems with the experiment, contact me immediately."

Peter then left Connors' laboratory without further disturbance.

……

It is now early January 2013. Logically speaking, as a student at Midtown High School, Peter should be on campus at this time, instead of running around for various matters.

However, Peter is not an ordinary high school student.

After acquiring the physical assets of Pioneer Technology, a portion of its cash flow, and the cash Peter earned from stock trading, Parker Industries rapidly expanded, becoming bloated.

Meanwhile, TikTok, owned by Parker Industries, saw its traffic skyrocket after Spider-Woman received an award at the White House and Iron Man joined the platform.

The Parker family went from being impoverished people hovering around the brink of elimination to middle-class people owning an independent factory, and now they have become newly rich upper-class people owning a company worth hundreds of millions.

The entire process took less than six months.

The company's rapid growth is a good thing in every sense, but the biggest problem is the lack of available personnel. Peter is currently extremely busy every day.

Therefore, the entire Parker Industries, from management to frontline employees, needs to expand its workforce, and on a large scale.

In addition, production lines will be established for several other products from Parker Industries to begin production.

Given TikTok's current size and the loyalty of its fans, there's no worry about its products not selling.

Peter took more than a month off from school and devoted himself to the affairs of Parker Industries.

While leading the establishment of a brand-new human resources system, he conducted interviews and recruitment at every level, from senior executives and department heads to front-line technical and production positions, frantically making up for the team's shortcomings.

He oversaw the site selection, equipment procurement, and process debugging of the new production line to ensure stable mass production of several core products.

At the same time, it is also necessary to promote the technological upgrade of the TikTok platform, optimize server capacity and fan interaction system, upgrade big data algorithms, and launch live streaming and related tipping functions to broaden its traffic monetization channels as an internet industry.

More than a month later, Peter finally completed most of his work.

It was mid-February, and Peter had one last task left.

In cooperation with a third-party accounting firm, we completed the annual tax audit, confirming that all R&D expenses, production line investments, platform operating costs, government subsidies, and tax incentives approved by the president were compliant. We signed the audit report to confirm compliance, thus concluding this year's tax filing work.

First, let's talk about how much money the Parker family earned in total between 2012 and 2013:

Parker Industries made a profit of $400,000 from buying hemostatic gel spray, and made a profit of over $200 million by buying at the bottom during the Stark Industries stock price crash. Later, Matthew transferred the Pioneer Technology legacy, which was worth about $500 million.

Parker Industries has made more than $7 million in profits in just a few months.

So how much tax does Parker Industries have to pay?

The answer is: 0.

This is not illegal tax evasion, but rather the most realistic and brutal rule of US tax law—the wealthier and larger the company, the more legally they can reduce their taxes to zero.

Parker Industries originally did need to pay astronomical amounts of taxes, but this was completely offset by a set of fully compliant tax measures.

First, whether it's selling products or speculating in stocks, not a single penny of the profits went into his personal pocket; they were all reinvested in the company.

Building factories, buying production lines, expanding staff, upgrading TikTok servers, developing new products... all the money was spent on business expansion as soon as it came in. According to US tax law, capital gains used for reinvestment in strategic industries can be deferred for tax purposes and are not included in taxable income for the year.

Second, the hemostatic gel spray was officially procured by the military, creating a new tax avoidance opportunity for large military contracts.

Military procurement is a priority project for national defense and enjoys special tax reductions and exemptions. Every military order and every invoice signed can be used to offset a large amount of tax.

Third, several sectors of Parker Industries were personally approved by the president as national-level high-tech industries to receive support.

Biomedicine, digital social platforms, and new materials research and development are all included in the national strategic support catalog, enjoying multiple benefits such as double deduction of R&D expenses, investment subsidies, tax reductions and exemptions, and accelerated depreciation.

Other companies may only be able to deduct one time, but Parker Industries can deduct two or three times the amount. The larger the expenditure, the more thorough the deduction.

Fourth, all fixed assets, equipment, and factory buildings are eligible for a one-time full deduction in the current year.

The 2012 tax law provided substantial support to high-tech enterprises, allowing newly invested production lines, equipment, and factories to be fully depreciated in the same year, directly offsetting all potential profits.

Fifth, the carry-forward of early losses and the complete exemption of local taxes in New York State are combined.

Losses incurred during the company's initial stages can be carried forward for many years to continue offsetting future profits.

Both the state and municipal governments grant high-tech companies tax exemptions, including exemptions from local taxes, payroll taxes, and property taxes.

In other words, Parker Industries will still have a considerable tax exemption allowance for the next few years.

After all that, the hundreds of millions of dollars in book revenue, after layers of legal deductions, policy preferences, military incentives, high-tech support, and full depreciation, resulted in taxable income being reduced to zero.

This is the true rule in the United States: ordinary people have to pay taxes on every penny they earn, while the truly wealthy and large corporations can earn as much as they want within the bounds of the law without paying a single penny in taxes.

Of course, even if taxes can be waived, the audit process still needs to be completed honestly.

Stock market profits, presidential asset allocations, production line investments, military procurement, R&D deductions, and even office furniture expenses—every single item must be checked and signed off.

Parker Industries' finance and legal departments had only been established for a month when they were already being ruthlessly exploited by their boss.