Chapter 1289 Chen Zetao scratched his head again
Xiao Peng's remarks undoubtedly dropped a bombshell.
Chen Zetao, who was watching his live broadcast there, was scratching his head. Although he knew that Xiao Peng would definitely cause trouble during the live broadcast, he didn't expect Xiao Peng to make things so big!
Why did you dismantle PETA? They've already been deemed an illegal organization and kicked out of Daxia. Why not just keep them around to harm foreigners?
Of course, he also understood why Xiao Peng did this. Just like Xiao Peng said: The animal protection organization here is too powerful, with so many believers and supporters, if they really wanted to deal with Xiao Peng with all their strength, he would not be able to withstand it!
This "unable to bear" isn't about the legal aspect. Xiao Peng isn't really afraid of a lawsuit. What is he afraid of? It's not surprising that extreme animal protectionists do anything.
For example, the ALF, or Animal Liberation Front, has committed numerous acts, including releasing farm animals, setting fires in animal laboratories, sinking whaling ships, and even blowing up the homes of animal researchers, earning it designation as a terrorist organization by the US. Another animal protection group, the Earth Liberation Front, has also been designated a terrorist organization, responsible for over 1,200 arson attacks in the US alone. PETA is a major financial backer of both organizations, providing them with financial and legal assistance.
Sometimes they are more like a cult organization. Even though PETA has been designated an "illegal organization" in China, there are still many people cheering for them online. What about in these Western countries?
If they were to sue him, he'd probably have people protesting outside Xiao Peng's house every day! That's the least of it. It wouldn't be surprising if someone went to Xiao Peng's house and set it on fire—that's what they're good at!
According to Xiao Peng's style, if they don't get angry, they'll be beaten to death with a stick! Just bring out the evidence of your economic crimes, and that's enough to make them drink two pots!
Especially when it comes to tax evasion! This is even more suicidal. Benjamin Franklin once said: "There are only two things in the world that are inevitable: taxes and death." This statement is basically the consensus of Western countries. In Western countries, tax evasion is absolutely a serious crime!
Of course, when wealthy individuals evade taxes, that's called "reasonable tax avoidance," and the wealthiest individuals pay lower taxes. For example, the tax record of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, is a very representative example.
In 2007, thanks to Amazon's soaring stock, Bezos's wealth soared to $3.8 billion. That year, he and his wife reported a mere $46 million in taxes, using investment interest and dividends to cover the cost. This meant he paid no taxes at all that year. By 2011, Bezos's wealth had risen to $18 billion, but his tax returns showed he was operating at a significant loss. Not only did he pay no taxes himself, he even claimed a tax exemption for his children. And in 2018, his wealth had grown to $127 billion, yet he paid only $1.4 billion in taxes—a fraction of a fraction of his wealth. Someone calculated his total tax rate at just 1.1%, compared to 19% for the average worker.
The combined market capitalization of the companies of the 25 richest Americans exceeds $1.1 trillion, equivalent to the combined wealth of 14.3 million ordinary workers. The combined tax burden of these 25 wealthy individuals is $1.9 billion. How much tax do the 14.3 million ordinary workers pay? Over $143 billion!
This is the most fundamental reason why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
But one thing is certain: although PETA's managers are very rich, they certainly cannot avoid taxes like the wealthy.
The rich have a variety of ways to avoid taxes. For example, Xiao Peng and Fabian avoid taxes by establishing a series of companies; while Bezos and Musk avoid taxes by borrowing money.
According to local laws, in order to prevent people from cashing out and profiting from the stock market, if you want to make a profit from selling stocks, you need to pay a tax of up to 20%! This makes it more difficult to cash out.
But what if you borrow against your stocks? You get the money straight away, paying only a small interest. And when you repay the loan, the amount is even deducted as an expense. This is why Bezos, despite being the world's richest man, always reports significant losses at tax time: while this "borrow money to repay" model requires interest, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the tax savings!
Last year, Tesla's Elon Musk pledged $57 billion worth of stock to raise cash. Those unfamiliar with the situation thought he was planning something big, but what was he actually doing? It was all about tax avoidance!
As an NGO, PETA's leadership can neither profit from stock mortgages nor set up numerous companies to avoid taxes like Xiao Peng did. All they can do is conceal their income and evade taxes. These animal protection organizations don't disclose their funding, giving them ample leverage. They never imagined anyone would target them in this way: after all, we're all animal protection saints. But they never expected Xiao Peng to go after them directly. This is a recipe for disaster!
If this evidence is confirmed, PETA's reputation will definitely plummet. Since Xiao Peng dared to produce it, Chen Zetao believed that it must be true evidence. PETA is finished this time!
Chen Zetao was curious about where Xiao Peng got this information. This was not something that a private detective could get.
Chen Zetao was not bothered by Xiao Peng's decision to join PETA. To be precise, he had guessed that this would be the result. Xiao Peng has never been a good person.
But why are you also destroying the artificial meat market? If it were just cultured meat, it would be fine; after all, like genetically modified food, it takes time to verify its safety. It's true that the people of Daxia can't be used as guinea pigs. But why are you also destroying the plant-based meat market?
How many food companies in our country are involved in "plant-based meat"? While their actions are certainly hyping up false concepts to deceive consumers and earn high profits, that's also a business tactic of "Zhou Yu fighting Huang Gai." You've just destroyed them all. Just wait for them to come after you.
Well, that only works if someone dares to cause trouble for him!
Those companies are unlucky, after PETA provoked Xiao Peng, and they were met with a barrage of criticism. But Xiao Peng's "bomb" has already been dropped, and there's no point in trying to persuade him now. Let others deal with the headache.
Chen Zetao lit a cigarette and looked at Xiao Peng on the screen: Well, I guess many people won’t be able to sleep tonight!
This kid is really a jerk!
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