David continued, "So don't think about it as if we're taking your taxes as if it's cutting your flesh. We're taking your money and then giving it back to you in the form of relief funds and unemployment benefits!"
"Think about it, you can receive 400 US Dollars in relief funds every week, but how much do you need to pay in taxes? That's not hard to calculate!"
It's often said that language is actually an art.
After hearing David's words, Nisen couldn't help but admire him.
Strictly speaking, from the perspective of tax inspectors like them, the collection of taxes and the distribution of relief funds and such are not related at all.
After all, the job of an inspector is just to chase down tax affairs.
As for distributing relief funds and social welfare, those are matters for the higher-ups, the Treasury Department, and Congress.
But how would these uneducated black folks understand that?
By saying this, David firstly secured the moral high ground in the eyes of this group.
In addition, "We collect your taxes so that we can give you relief funds and other benefits." What more could you complain about?
With that said, the black folks indeed no longer resisted or felt dissatisfied as before.
Just as David had stated,
America gives them 400 US Dollars in relief funds per week, which adds up to 1600 US Dollars a month.
For them, that was not a small sum.
And how much did they need to pay in taxes?
At most, each person would only need to pay a few hundred US Dollars, and anyone with a bit of sense would do the math, so of course, they weren't fools.
"Okay..."
Osborne seemed somewhat helpless, but then seemed to recall something, "If we pay the taxes as you requested, then your IRS won't mess with us anymore, right?"
Though the black folks were beginning to compromise, their main concern was the same.
The IRS is, after all, a formal government agency—who knows if they would collude with the police, take their taxes, and then continue to hassle or keep a close eye on them.
"You can rest assured on that!"
"According to the Black Tax Act, as long as you pay taxes to us, the IRS is obligated to keep your information confidential."
"Let alone the police department, even the FBI has no right to inquire!"
"Of course... if you inadvertently commit an offense that falls into the hands of law enforcement, then that's none of our business!"
David explained methodically.
And this response seemed to greatly satisfy Osborne and the others.
Since they were paying taxes, the IRS would keep their identities confidential and not interfere with their activities, so they had nothing to worry about!
"Good, then we'll pay the tax!"
David nodded in satisfaction, then continued, "I know that every time you decide to take action, you bring along many subordinates, or friends and family. I hope you can call them over to make their own contribution to our nation's tax revenue!"
Just a few people in this room, even if they collected all their taxes, it would only amount to a few thousand US Dollars.
This amount of money was obviously not significant to David.
So securing these folks was only his first step.
His real purpose was, in fact, to leverage these folks to reveal their subordinates and then through those subordinates, to draw in even more... leading to a significant accumulation of tax revenue.
That would make his trip worthwhile!
"This..."
The black folks immediately began to feel troubled.
Their constant success with zero-dollar shopping relied on their numbers; otherwise, they probably would have been taken down by security before even entering the stores.
And indeed, many of their friends and relatives often participated in their zero-dollar shopping schemes.
But...
If they were found by the IRS, they could only consider themselves unlucky.
However, those were their beloved friends and family. How could they betray them?
"Let me put it honestly to you!"
"With the ability of the IRS to find you and investigate you so thoroughly, we can also locate your friends and relatives, it's just a matter of time!"
Upon hearing David's words, the black folks felt a jolt in their hearts.
Right.
If the IRS could scrutinize them so intensely, surely they could uncover the others involved in zero-dollar shopping.
It was just that they were focusing on the core members first.
But...
For them to betray their friends and relatives as snitches, they found it difficult to accept at the moment.
The corners of David's mouth lifted slightly as he said, "You don't need to wear that expression, doing this is actually to your benefit!"
The black folks were somewhat speechless.
So you're telling me that betraying my friends and relatives brings benefits? It would be surprising if they didn't stab me in the back!
"According to the IRS tax rate, illegal income not exceeding 9275 US Dollars is taxed at 10 percent."
"And Section 391 of the Black Tax Act clearly stipulates that those who contribute to illegal income will receive certain tax relief."
"That means, instead of paying the original tax rate of 10 percent, if you made a contribution, it might be reduced to 9 percent, 8 percent, 7 percent..."
David was not deceiving them.
When the Black Tax Act was originally formulated, the drafting team had thought of this approach.
Granting certain tax concessions to criminals so they would cooperate actively could lighten the inspectors' load, enabling the IRS to efficiently collect taxes. It was beneficial in every way.
Of course, if these black folks were really stubborn and did not want to snitch, it also wasn't much of a problem.
He had his golden finger, and as long as they had participated in the zero-dollar shopping, who could escape his grasp?
It would just take a bit more time.
But then again, knowing these profit-minded people, the moment they heard about tax relief, they would definitely not miss the opportunity!
As expected by David,
The moment they heard there was a chance for tax relief, the black folks, who were initially very reluctant to snitch, all lit up.
Betraying their own friends and family was of course undesirable to them.
But if there were benefits involved, that was a different story.
After all, David had also mentioned that even if they didn't betray them, the IRS had its ways to find their friends and relatives.
Rather than that, it would be better for those friends and relatives to 'die' at their own hands!
They believed that if their friends and relatives knew, they wouldn't blame them too much.
With the tempting thought stirring in their minds, Osborne couldn't help but inquire, "Inspector sir, what I want to know is, what exactly constitutes the contribution you mentioned?"
"With your zero-dollar shopping, generating about 5000 US Dollars in tax revenue for us could decrease the individual's tax rate by one percentage point, with a floor of no less than 5 percent."