Chapter 1632 See You in Court
Xiao Peng felt particularly regretful about coming to America.
He originally wanted to return to Europe as soon as possible to get away from this place of trouble, but he didn't expect that he would also be invited by the IRS to "have coffee". As for the reason: Vincent donated a total of 5 million and WWE stocks with a market value of 50 million US dollars to Xiao Peng's fund, and Xiao Peng gave Vincent the "champion gold belt" in return. They were investigating whether there was any direct connection between the two and whether money laundering was involved.
Xiao Peng had no choice but to stop them from investigating the matter, because the IRS was so powerful - here, the IRS was a department that no one could afford to offend!
But they had no evidence and would not let Xiao Peng leave the country, which annoyed Xiao Peng: he received several calls a day from Europe asking him when he would return!
Finally, Xiao Peng couldn't help himself: "You guys are so shameless, aren't you? Vincent's money was donated to his own foundation, not for himself! If you want to investigate money laundering, you should first investigate Vincent, and then go to Daxia to investigate Xiao Peng's foundation!"
While Xiao Peng's fund is under his name, it's managed by a dedicated team. Unlike other funds, his fund is not hidden; all its income and expenditures are transparent. How can this be laundered? This is clearly asking for trouble!
Isn't America a country ruled by law? Xiao Peng contacted a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the IRS, alleging illegal detention, racial discrimination, and abuse of power.
Isn't it just accusations? This is what Xiao Peng is best at!
The IRS was also confused: When had they ever encountered such a situation? Who here wouldn't be afraid of them? Besides, other people would send a lawyer's letter to express their stance first, so why did you just sue directly?
The IRS was also furious. "How dare you challenge us? Are you so rich that you don't even know your own name? No matter how rich you are, can you be richer than the IRS? Our boss is not the American government, our boss is the Federal Reserve! Xiao Peng must be punished!"
Then they discovered...
I really can’t deal with Xiao Peng!
Xiao Peng has no US dollar account and no business here. Finally, a clothing brand related to him wants to enter the market here, but it hasn't come in yet after all - and even if they use the matter of that clothing brand to target Xiao Peng, they have to really evade taxes.
They could also label the "gold belt" Xiao Peng gave Vincent as a "work of art" and accuse him of tax evasion, but there are two problems here: First, the gold belt was given to Vincent, so he should have paid the taxes, not Xiao Peng. And even if Vincent didn't pay the taxes, that doesn't mean he intentionally evaded them—after all, it's not tax season yet. Second...if they really did that, the entire IRS leadership would likely be purged and replaced.
Because they have already extended their hands into the forbidden zone that the Americans absolutely cannot touch!
The so-called art trade is a haven for money laundering and a high-tech way to evade taxes in any country in the world, including China. The clever thing about this method is that, despite its complexity, the buyer and seller can maintain no social connections, making it untraceable, and can also evade taxes through technological means!
However, different countries have different approaches to this money laundering method.
After the reform and opening up, many "imported goods" were introduced into Daxia, including "artwork money laundering". Especially after Daxia promulgated the "Anti-Money Laundering Law" in 2006, traditional money laundering channels were controlled, so those people began to need new ways to launder money, and "artwork money laundering" was their best way.
Anyone who follows art news will have noticed that most of the record-breaking art auction records were set between 2006 and 2012. However, art prices have actually been on a downward trend in recent years, and it's no exaggeration to describe them as plummeting.
Logically, with the economy improving, the art market should also be thriving. So, how did this happen? The reason is simple: in 2012, the Daxia government launched a direct tax audit of art sales, effectively shutting down several so-called "art transport companies" and "art investment companies." Since then, no one has dared to use art to launder money, leading to a return to normal art market prices.
At that time, it's no exaggeration to say that money launderers were going crazy: a Xu Beihong oil painting "Jiang Biwei," a student's study at an art academy, fetched 72.8 million yuan! A replica of a Han Dynasty jade stool fetched 220 million yuan; a fake Qi Baishi painting "Hundred Shrimps" fetched 120 million yuan; and a fake Qi Baishi painting "Pine and Cypress Standing Tall" fetched a whopping 430 million yuan!
Through these data, you can see how crazy the art auction was back then!
China has strict controls on money laundering involving art, but in the West? Sorry, this is a minefield that cannot be touched.
After all, to put it bluntly, this place is a place that serves the rich, and artworks are just tools for money laundering and tax evasion. Just like when Xiao Peng went to the basement of Prince Wolfgang Friedrich of Heddingen's house and saw it was full of Old Summer Palace cultural relics, he was shocked, but Wolfgang gave him a "bargain price".
At that time, Xiao Peng thought he had picked up a huge bargain, but later he found out that these things were really worthless to them: every time they needed to pay taxes, they could take out a few pieces and "donate" them to the museum to enjoy tax exemption!
And everyone does that.
Why don’t Western countries care about this? Firstly, it’s because all the rich people do it. Secondly, this practice will bring another problem: it will bring high inheritance tax!
High inheritance taxes are a common problem faced by wealthy Westerners. Billy's family, for example, left behind a shell of their former grandfather after his death. However, inheritance taxes still had to be paid, requiring various donations of real estate. Essentially, the castles owned by the state in Europe were used by large families to offset taxes.
Artwork is also a good way to deduct taxes, but not all art can be used—after all, the government is no fool; it must be valuable. This is precisely why Wolfgang quickly disposed of the artifacts from the Old Summer Palace, receiving 200 million in cash and information about the shipwreck that plundered the French. This solved both the financial problem and the inheritance tax issue.
In short, using art to evade taxes is a common practice among wealthy Westerners. Who's behind the IRS? The Federal Reserve! Who does the Fed serve? Countless wealthy individuals! How could they possibly compromise the interests of all these wealthy Americans for the sake of one person, Xiao Peng? That's why the West has never caught anyone laundering money or evading taxes using art! If that were the case, the existence of the IRS would be another matter entirely.
The most important thing is: the IRS being named as a defendant is completely in line with public opinion! The world has suffered from the IRS for a long time! After hearing this news, the American people are eager for the IRS to be shut down!
Well, just give in and send this guy away first.
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