Chapter 064: High Taxes

As Charles entered the lobby of the agency, he saw Ginny at the front desk, sorting through documents. He greeted her, "Hey, Ginny!"

Hearing Charles's voice, Ginny looked up from her work, greeted him, and said, "Good morning, BOSS."

Charles approached her and asked, "How are things going?"

Ginny finished arranging the documents and handed them to Charles, saying, "BOSS, these are the latest financial data. Please take a look."

Instead of taking the documents, Charles said, "Ginny, just give me a brief summary."

Ginny retrieved the documents and began explaining, "The gold and jewelry from before have all been converted into cash. Due to the source and invoices, they were processed at a discount. We've received a total of $3.5 million."

"The two slots in the wax bath recovery room were auctioned off for a total price of $30 million, and the money has been deposited into our account."

"Winston and Berrada each contributed $15 million based on the average auction price. After negotiations, we set the price for the recovery room at 2 gold coins and $100,000 for one session."

"Originally, the Continental Hotel wanted to use a gold coin-only service model, but considering your need for cash, we are currently offering services based on both gold coins and money. If there are any changes later, we can adjust it."

"As for the revenue split, the Continental Hotel takes 10%, and we take 90% plus $100,000. Accounting-wise, settlements will be made on a monthly basis."

Charles nodded in approval upon hearing the details about the wax bath recovery room's auction price and service charges. He said, "The prices sound good. Let's go with what you've negotiated."

"Has John Wick and Cross's son been dispatched?"

In response to Charles's inquiry, Ginny replied, "John Wick has already gone to the Continental Hotel in Morocco to oversee the recovery room there."

"Cross is responsible for the Continental Hotel in Moscow."

"Wesley is in charge of the Continental Hotel in London."

"I've equipped each of them with a squad of ten High Table Envoys."

Charles was quite satisfied with Ginny's arrangements and said, "Very well, I trust your judgment."

Ginny was happy to receive Charles's praise and smiled. She continued, "Additionally, there's the income to discuss. In the past week, Iruka and the others completed ten reward missions, all of which had a million-dollar bounty."

"There's a total bounty of $10 million, with the Continental Hotel taking 10%, and you taking 20%. The office has received $2 million."

"The remaining money is divided among the three of them."

"The total income is $65 million. Now, let me inform you about your expenses. The house next door has been purchased for the construction of the recovery room. The overall cost of acquisition and renovation was $500,000."

"Furthermore, due to the significant assets that Elder Markham gifted you, along with the corresponding gift and inheritance taxes, you'll need to pay a 35% gift tax."

"Since Elder Markham didn't bear the gift tax for you, you'll have to cover this expense yourself."

Upon hearing the figure of 35%, Charles's heart skipped a beat. The tax bureau in this Glorious Nation was basically a bunch of highway robbers. After a moment of calm, Charles asked, "How much do I need to pay exactly?"

After a brief pause, Ginny slowly replied, "One billion dollars."

"What?"

Charles couldn't believe it. This amount of money was astronomical. One billion dollars from 2008—what did that even mean? It implied that Markham's gift to him was worth three billion dollars.

Seeing Charles's surprise, Ginny continued, "And this is considering you've used your $10 million lifetime exemption limit. Otherwise, you'd need to pay an additional $3.5 million in taxes."

"Fortunately, you don't have to pay it all at once. We can handle the transfer procedure incrementally. You can pay it in installments as we go along, or we can complete the transfer and pay the entire tax amount within the specified time frame."

Charles quickly calculated his cash reserves, which added up to around $95 million. Even if he converted all his copper coins in the system to dollars, he'd still be short by $2 million. 

Fortunately, he didn't have to pay it all at once; otherwise, it would have wiped out his cash flow.

Charles looked at Ginny, who was still holding the documents, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Ginny turned a page and continued, "Aside from myself, John Wick, and Cross's son, your monthly expenses for the armed forces' salaries and house maintenance costs are approximately $1 million."

"Property taxes amount to around $3 million annually."

"In other words, BOSS, even without considering your income, you'll need at least $15 million annually."

"If we include our salaries, this amount should exceed $20 million."

"But don't worry, BOSS. In addition to the revenue from the recovery room, the New York Continental Hotel pays 10% of its earnings to the Elder overseeing the region every year."

"The various major factions under your jurisdiction also contribute 10% of their earnings to you as their ruler. This is the price of their loyalty."

"Furthermore, it's not just you as an Elder; they also pay 10% of their earnings to the High Table headquarters for its development and maintenance."

"However, this money will only be received next year, so there's no need to worry about the payment at the moment."

Hearing that the High Table and the Elders would take 20%, Charles wasn't surprised. He understood that such deductions were standard.

Charles glanced at Ginny and said, "Your salaries, aside from the bounties for regular missions, will be based on the adjudicators' standards."

Ginny smiled sweetly and replied, "Thank you, BOSS!"

Water from afar won't quench your immediate thirst. Charles needed to find a way to make money soon. 

However, with the reward missions from the Continental Hotel and the newly established recovery room project, he wasn't concerned about financial issues.

Just as Charles was about to say something, the office's front door was pushed open.

…

On the other side-

In Tony Stark's mansion, Pepper Potts was packing up a room. It had been over two months since Tony disappeared, and she was beginning to lose hope. 

While Rhodey had told her that there was no sign of Tony's body at the attack site, there were traces of his blood.

The military had been searching, but the absence of a body left room for hope that Tony might still be alive.

Happy, Tony's bodyguard, was also in the mansion, assisting with the cleaning. However, it was clear that the burly Happy wasn't cut out for such tasks. 

Seeing Pepper, distraught and devastated, he thought for a moment before speaking up.

"Pepper, there's something I'm not sure whether I should tell you. You know I'm Tony's bodyguard."

"Now, if anyone can find Tony Stark, I think you might want to try contacting the owner of the Charles Agency. You know, the one in the Continental Hotel."

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