Chapter 12: Zero-Yuan Purchase Is Not Illegal

Before the crowd could regain their composure, David turned his attention to another black man: "And you, Barren..."

Ten minutes later, everyone in the room had lost their composure, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

Because, during that time, David had laid bare the details and income of each person present.

Had the IRS's auditing capabilities reached the point where they could detect even the slightest clue?

It was terrifying...

However, to be fair, people like Osborne were still okay, since they thought that David could only obtain such detailed information because he had the powerful national machinery of the IRS at his disposal.

Only Nisen, who was from the IRS, knew that the agency didn't actually have such detailed information about the Zero Purchase Participants.

That is to say, all this information had been uncovered by David alone!

But how was that possible!

Just investigating the detailed information of even one person would be incredibly difficult, let alone a whole roomful of people!

First, there was the Encar embezzlement case, and now this Zero Dollar Shopping incident, in a short time, Nisen felt increasingly mystified by his partner.

"What's the matter, good citizens? Don't you want to say something?"

David's voice, laced with irony, finally snapped the shocked black people out of their reverie.

But at this point, they still felt reluctant to accept the situation.

I struggled and risked getting beaten or shot, and it wasn't easy to loot these profits, and now the IRS shows up at the door asking for a share. That's just too bullying!

"Inspector, since you already know everything, there's no point for me to argue. Yes, we have participated in many Zero Purchase incidents, but..."

Here, Osborne's tone became drawn out, his expression calm as if he had thought of a countermeasure, and he slowly said, "According to the new laws introduced in 2020, Zero Purchase incidents, as long as they don't exceed 950 US dollars, are not considered illegal, which means, what we did does not count as illegal earnings, so naturally we do not have to pay taxes to the IRS!"

Osborne didn't want to use this policy against the IRS.

Firstly, by mentioning this policy, it would confirm their identity as Zero Purchase Participants.

Who knows if the IRS would communicate with the police. If so, they would be targeted by the police, and although they couldn't be arrested, their future activities certainly wouldn't be as smooth.

However, at this point, to avoid being fleeced by the IRS, he had to reluctantly resort to this.

"Yeah, we may be Zero Purchase Participants, but every time we looted, our profit did not exceed 950 US dollars, and the law states that's not a crime!"

"Haha, Mr. Inspector, it's not that we don't want to pay taxes to the IRS, the law doesn't allow it!"

"..."

The black men in the room began to feel smug.

However, upon hearing this, David didn't rush to say anything. Instead, he looked at the group of black men, who were smug and thought they had found a solution, with the look one gives a fool.

Strictly speaking, there was a bit of truth to what they were saying.

That is, according to current law, their Zero Purchase activities that didn't exceed 950 US dollars did not amount to a criminal act.

This would be astonishing in nearly any country in the world, but in America, it was almost a matter of course.

This issue actually dates back to 2014.

At that time, because the California prisons were overcrowded, a new rule was introduced stating that for Zero Purchases under 950 US dollars, the most one would face was a misdemeanor charge.

If the confession attitude was good, just attending some educational programs and community service activities were enough to go home, without the need to go to prison.

By May of 2020, in light of the George Floyd case where he was killed by police brutality, the entire black population of America erupted in protests.

Taking advantage of the chaos, black people looted numerous stores, which overwhelmed the police and prison systems across the country.

In the end, the law previously only in effect in California was applied across all states, and what's even more absurd is that even the misdemeanor charges were dropped.

This means, as long as your Zero Purchase doesn't exceed 950 US dollars, it's not considered a crime.

This was probably also a form of compensation for the George Floyd incident, to help quell the nationwide anger among black people.

However, the regulation on Zero Purchases was introduced in May 2020.

The IRS's Black Tax Act was introduced on December 3, 2021.

Therefore, when creating and introducing the Black Tax Act, the IRS's top officials had already considered the legal conflicts and loopholes concerning Zero Purchases.

David took out his phone, entered the official IRS website, found the Black Tax Act, turned to section 236, then turned the screen towards the black men, and said, "According to section 236 of the Black Tax Act, regarding Zero Purchases and our tax policy, it is explained here that, regardless of the amount, it takes precedence over the tax policy!"

"What does that mean?"

The black men, who had been feeling joyful, suddenly sensed trouble and asked with furrowed brows.

"It means that although your Zero Purchases under 950 US dollars do not violate the law, you still have to pay taxes to the IRS!"

"This... this can't be!"

The black people finally understood but most of them found it hard to accept.

"Mr. Inspector, what if we refuse to pay?"

One of the black men retorted, with a touch of anger.

"Refuse to pay?"

David's expression turned cold as he said chillingly, "We will freeze all your accounts. Moreover, all your federal aid, unemployment benefits, and various other benefits will be stopped!"

"No, by what right can you stop our federal aid and unemployment benefits? These are benefits provided by the state; you don't have that authority!"

Most of the black people present were either unemployed or out of work, and other than Zero Purchases, their most important source of income was federal aid and unemployment benefits.

Hearing that these income sources would be cut off was akin to them losing their lifeline.

"Heh."

David sneered, "By what right do we stop your federal aid and unemployment benefits? It's because you bastards don't want to pay taxes!"

"Where do you think your federal aid, unemployment benefits, and other benefits come from?"

"It's the taxes collected by the IRS that are then allocated to you!"

"If everyone were like you, avoiding taxes and not wanting to pay them, where would the money come for all the benefits the state offers you?"

At this, the black men present were left speechless.

They might not have wished to pay taxes, but they couldn't deny the logic in David's words.

After all, the IRS was America's coffers, and without its allocations, not just their welfare, but the entire society's benefits would vanish.