American Tax Officer

One should not underestimate the Department of Homeland Security, although its name doesn't resonate as loudly as the National Tax Bureau, CIA, or FBI.

But in terms of administrative level, it is higher than those three agencies.

Simply put, the Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the federal government.

The National Tax Bureau, nominally, is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Treasury.

And the FBI falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice.

While the CIA, though not directly led by a cabinet department on the surface, can only be called the Central Intelligence Agency.

In terms of administrative levels, an agency is naturally not as high as a department.

And as a cabinet department, the Department of Homeland Security is directly under the president's leadership!

No wonder, then.

Director David wondered, how could this Brown Soros have collected so much tax each evaluation period if he had held the identity of the Chief of Operations for Manhattan District in New York at the Department of Homeland Security? This could explain some things.

However, even though being a tax inspector at the National Tax Bureau still kind of promised a future, for Brown Soros, who had already become the Chief of Operations for the Manhattan District, which was quite a promising career, there was no need to demote himself to a mere inspector at the National Tax Bureau.

Yet he did just that, which was very illogical. What could be the reason for that?

Could it be...

...related to the Black Tax Bill?

That was the only conclusion Director David could come to!

After all, soon after Brown Soros arrived at the National Tax Bureau, the Black Tax Bill officially took effect, creating a large-scale storm across the country.

"What's wrong, Director David, are you not satisfied with this information?"

Looking at David's piercing gaze, Selina tilted her head back and asked in response.

David snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes sharpening as he asked, "With his status, getting hold of this information wouldn't have been easy!"

The personal data of National Tax Bureau internal personnel needs to be kept confidential.

Apart from the individual's supervisors and higher-ups, others, like William from the Lake District Sub-Bureau Branch, would be unable to access it because it goes against the rules and regulations of the National Tax Bureau.

However, if David really wanted to access it, it wasn't impossible,

For instance, he could find a hacker.

Or, he could use his relationship with the CIA to obtain it.

But whether through a hacker or the CIA, if it were found out that they acted under his orders, it would be a violation of the National Tax Bureau's internal rules and regulations, giving others a handle for attack.

Therefore, even though David had been very curious about Brown Soros's personal data for a long time, he had never dared to look it up through other means.

Until today, when Selina brought it to him!

Selina shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I have a few friends, getting these data wouldn't be difficult for them, and if you want to see Bellamy Hardy's information... I could get that for you too!"

With the Kennedy Family's influence, David had no doubt.

But her choice of words also reminded him of an idiom, 'Unwarranted generosity often hides ulterior motives.'

He admitted that he was rather handsome, but he wasn't confident enough to believe he could captivate the heiress of the Kennedy Family.

And now that the heiress was so generous to him, she certainly had something she wanted him to do.

But currently, he was just a Chief Tax Officer, what could he do for the said heiress?

Unable to figure it out, David replied, "No need, understanding them won't be of much help to me. Collecting taxes is the real deal!"

Selina looked at David, her eyes reflecting thoughtful contemplation.

Just then, the restaurant waiter brought over the steak, pasta, red wine, and other dishes.

One of the staff members also poured some red wine into their tall glasses.

Picking up her glass, Selina smiled and said, "Director David, congratulations on the successful completion of the Dieter case!"

David picked up his glass and clinked it with hers. Then, both of them tacitly picked up their knives and forks and started to enjoy the delicious steak.

As she cut a piece of steak and put it in her mouth, Selina suddenly asked, "Director David, do you know why the black tax bill, which had been drafted long ago, only passed last month?"

David stopped his movements, took his napkin to wipe his mouth, but didn't seem intent on responding; instead, he looked like he was all ears.

"It's simple, the country is out of money!"

Selina too picked up her napkin to wipe her mouth and continued, "In fact, before 2017, America's economy was already struggling, but after Mr. Trump took office, he was quite adept at handling the economy and successfully stabilized America's economic decline..."

David had no objections to Selina's words.

To be fair, Mr. Trump might not have been great at other things, but as a businessman, he was indeed very capable of handling the economy.

According to statistics, during Mr. Trump's tenure, America had added 4.85 million jobs, and the economy grew steadily, which was quite an achievement.

If it hadn't been for a sudden natural disaster, it wouldn't have been Mr. Biden's turn to take over.

"But you know what happened next. After Mr. Biden came in, he restarted the military-industrial complex strategy, causing a comprehensive surge in military spending, and making the already declining American economy take a nosedive."

"What can you do when the country is out of money? They had to rely on taxation, but increasing taxes on the public or their corporations would not only anger the citizens but also major interest groups. Therefore, the black tax bill had to be smoothly passed!"

After listening to Selina's explanation, David fell into deep thought.

About the drafting and successful passage of the black tax bill in Congress, he had not yet considered the deeper issues.

Only now, after hearing Selina's explanation, did he start to grasp the gist of it.

Who would have thought that the black tax bill was actually the brainchild of America's top echelons taking the path of least resistance.

But thinking about it, between upsetting citizens and major interest groups, and dealing with criminals, he too would choose the third party.

First of all, criminals' earnings are ill-gotten gains anyway – what's wrong with the state taxing a bit of that?

Even if these criminals wanted to resist, first, they'd have to fight against the IRS, and secondly, does anyone support them?

These criminals are being sanctioned by the state, and that's only right. Who would stand up and speak for them?

Therefore, under the duress of the IRS's deterrence or public pressure, the criminals had no choice but to opt for paying taxes!

Selina looked at David, who was deep in thought, and said, "But Director David, do you know? Although the tax revenue from criminals is a substantial amount, it's actually nothing compared to some other people!"

"You are referring to...?"

Selina didn't answer directly, but instead shifted the topic, "Do you know why Brown Soros can easily collect so many taxes every assessment period?"

"All he has to do is walk into Wall Street, randomly pick a financier and investigate. There's not a clean one among them. One spit from them might be enough for several cases worth of tax revenue for you!"

David did not contradict her.

Indeed!

No one playing the game on Wall Street could be considered simple or innocent.

Those financiers are ruthless, and with America's high tax rates, it would be strange if such greedy individuals were to pay their fair share.

If he were to take a stroll on Wall Street, his keen eye for detail would surely lead to a windfall of tax achievements.

Too bad...

He didn't have the same luck and network of connections as Brown Soros to be assigned as an Inspector in that district and later become Chief Tax Officer!