Chapter 520 Tax Reform
Chapter 520 Tax Reform
Everyone, except for Myron and Ford Sr., was stunned speechless by Paul’s “stepped tax rates”.
Mr. Gleeman, are you sure you’re not robbing money?
“Ahem!” Hansel cautiously asked, “Lord Earl, won’t you consider this stepped tax rate?”
Paul replied with immense certainty, “This is my final decision. The tax rates for the various stages are up for debate, but this method of stepped taxation is something that must be implemented.”
Seeing the unquestioning look on the lord’s face, everyone realized that they could not stop the lord no matter what.
Looking at the varying expressions of the crowd, Earl of Bairdine, Myron Garnard, stood up.
“In order to serve as a good example, Paul and I have decided to set an example, whether it’s income tax or stepped tax rates, when the official tax policy is introduced, it will start with the two of us, and the specifics of each of our tax payments will be posted in the form of an announcement on the bulletin board of the town hall in each city.”
“Ooh!”
There was a moment of surprise among the officers of the various departments; if Lord Gleeman alone had started this example, it would not have been taken seriously; after all, it seemed to the people that Paul’s levying his own taxes was nothing more than a left-handed inversion of a right-handed one, but it was a different matter when Lord Myron Garnerd was on board as well.
It was also from this time that the people finally realized that Count Greiman was really trying to build a strong and sound public finance system.
Paul asked, “Does anyone else have a different opinion?”
No one raised an objection.
Paul looked to his tax supervisor, “Okay, in that case, I’ll leave the specifics to the tax office to work on, and I’ll call for a discussion when a draft comes out.”
Steve Fielding stood up and answered the order, “As you command, Lord Gladman.”
Paul turned toward his Chief Justice Thomas again, “With the new tax policy in place, there are bound to be people who will hide their true wealth and income in various ways, and it will be important to build on the various legal provisions that were previously in place against tax evasion.”
“The Lords’ Court will work closely with the Department of Taxation, Lord Gleeman.” Thomas promised.
……
The meeting on tax reform went on for more than two hours before Paul adjourned the meeting near the end of the time set by the Council of State.
Paul returned to his office, sitting on his butt on the boss chair he had specially built, the composition of this chair is not simply hard wood, but is modeled after the design of the previous world, the backrest and seat plate is filled with soft sponges, sitting on it is very comfortable.
Because there were no other people present, he comfortably rested his legs on the table in front of him, resting his hands on his head, leaning back in the chair lazily, thinking about the scenario after the new tax policy was implemented.
His secretary, Bernard, pushed open the office door and came in, but Paul did not change his position. Bernard was not an “outsider”, he had already become as much a part of the castle as Phillip, the old butler.
“Oh, Bernard, a glass of wine?”
“Thank you, Lord Gladman.”
The secretary walked over to the table with the wine set, picked up the bottle and poured two glasses, picked them up and walked over to Paul, handing one of them to him.
Paul drew out a hand to take it, and their glasses clinked slightly in mid-air with a crisp sound.
They each took a small sip.
“The truth is, Lord Graiman, I have always had questions about you.”
“Oh, Bernard, since it’s been all along, why didn’t you ask sooner, you’re my closest companion in the workplace, but there’s no harm in asking.”
It was a great relief to Bernard to hear the Count address himself by the term partner. So then he threw out the question in his mind, “Do you want to be a [saint]?”
“Saint?” Paul was slightly surprised, he wasn’t sure why his secretary asked that, what part of himself acted like a saint?
“Yes, the kind of saint who willingly gives and burns himself.”
“Wow, Bernard, you’re talking about altruists?”
“Altruistic? Saints are indeed altruistic.”
“Then I really don’t know what kind of behavior I have to deserve such a comment from you?”
“Look at it!” Bernard said with a matter-of-fact face, “You are so eager to …… [scavenge] for wealth, pardon me for using the word scavenge, but you do seem to many to be somewhat unscrupulous. But ……”
Bernard added emphasis on the but.
“Do you scavenge to amass wealth? No, you are not a miser, and the treasury is cleanly spent.”
“Do you spend money cleanly for your own enjoyment? Neither, with all due respect, your material circumstances can only be described as shabby amongst the nobles of Aldo.”
Bernard put down his glass and spread both hands out.
“You have invested your money heavily in road construction, technological research and development, educational development, and even generously lent to private merchants and workshop owners at very low interest rates, what is this if not sainthood? What is this if not altruism?”
Paul smiled as he listened to the secretary’s words, and he shook his fingers repeatedly with his empty hand.
“Oh! Bernard, you’re wrong; I’m not as noble as you think I am. A saint? Such things are too far from the nature of my soul.”
Bernard froze, “You are being modest.”
“Ho ho ho, I’m definitely not being modest, absolutely! Right! NO! Yes!”
“Then there must be a deeper reason driving you to do so.”
“There is indeed a deeper reason driving me to do this.”
Paul answered him with a smile, “It is for my own material enjoyment.”
For a moment Bernard suspected that the Count was playing a trick on him.
Lord Greiman, look at the various furnishings in this castle, are you sure you are enjoying yourself?
“I know you have doubts in your mind, but …… forgive me for not being able to fully answer your doubts right now.”
Paul looked at Bernard wryly, even a bit pretentiously.
“However, the material enjoyment that I am looking forward to is definitely something that this world at the moment cannot give. Yes, as a lord of a party, I can instruct a large number of manpower to work for me with a single command, and I can arbitrarily demand all kinds of outputs from my territory, but this kind of quantitative change has not yet reached the level of causing a qualitative change.”
In Bernard’s increasingly perplexed eyes, Paul said, “The material life that I am looking forward to can only be achieved through a combination of various conditions, science, technology, systems, ideas, manpower – of course, high-quality manpower, you can’t have one without the other, and it requires a continuous fusion of all of these things in order to achieve the kind of qualitative change that I am looking forward to. that qualitative change.”
“That’s why I’m working very hard to change the world, and the minute I spend money indulging in this current level of material life, the process leading to that qualitative change slows down by one minute.”
(End of chapter)