Chapter 17: Paying Taxes for the First Time in Life! Absolutely Unbelievable!

Chapter 17: Paying Taxes for the First Time in Life! No Way I Believe It!

Night.

After dinner, Qin Lin played with Wangcai for a while. Since being adopted, the dog had become clingy and affectionate, often looking up at him with big, round eyes and gently nudging his leg with its head. Anyone would find it hard to resist reaching out to pet its head.

Back in his room, the strawberries and okra seedlings in the game were starting to dry out and needed watering.

Qin Lin controlled his character to carry a bucket and water the strawberries and okra seedlings. Then he began chatting with Zhao Moqing on WeChat.

Two more days passed like this.

Early one morning, Qin Lin delivered the ripe strawberries and okra to RT-Mart. Returning to his shop on Market Street, he had to get busy in front of the computer.

The local tax bureau had announced the tax reporting period for fruit and vegetable shops.

Reporting taxes and paying taxes were not the same. Whether a business was a company or a sole proprietorship, it wasn’t always required to pay taxes, but reporting was mandatory.

Reporting meant declaring business operations, income, and expenses to the tax authorities. If there was no income or it didn’t meet the threshold for paying taxes, no tax payment was required.

Although Qin Lin had inherited the fruit shop for over a year, paying taxes was still unfamiliar to him.

Because the fruit shop qualified for certain special policies: no value-added tax if monthly sales were under 100,000 yuan, and local support policies exempted tax payments under 50,000 yuan in sales.

His small fruit and vegetable shop, after deducting rent, utilities, and other expenses, made less than 10,000 yuan a month, with about 25% profit margin—far below the tax threshold.

In other words, he had never paid a single yuan of tax on his salary, yet had been enjoying state medical insurance and various welfare benefits. To some degree, he was among those who had been a burden on the country.

How shameful!

However, reporting taxes was a monthly duty he never neglected.

To stagger the schedule, the local tax office designated these two days for individual fruit and vegetable vendors to report their taxes.

Previously, since he didn’t meet the tax-paying criteria, he could get by with a little negligence, and no one cared—everyone did it that way.

This time, though, it wouldn’t be so easy. He would definitely have to pay taxes.

Otherwise, if his bank account suddenly surged from around 4,000 yuan in savings to a much higher amount in a short time—and would continue to rise—he’d certainly draw scrutiny from the banking regulators. That would spell big trouble.

Since he had to pay taxes, he naturally had to calculate the accounts and organize all the invoices from this period.

His accounts were indeed a bit tricky. Sole proprietors didn’t have to pay corporate income tax, but if they exceeded the tax exemption or value-added tax threshold, they had to pay individual income tax and value-added tax.

The rough breakdown was:

- Net profits up to 30,000 yuan: 5% individual income tax.

- 30,000 to 90,000 yuan: 10% individual income tax plus 3% VAT.

- 90,000 to 300,000 yuan: 20% individual income tax plus 3% VAT.

Qin Lin didn’t know exactly how much tax his fruit shop owed now.

Although he made over 400,000 yuan in income without initial capital, tax reporting would certainly deduct normal market costs; no one would foolishly declare all income as without cost.

Naturally, even if he were to report as no-cost, the auditors might think he was naive and patiently explain that costs and profits must be properly calculated. If he wanted to pay more tax by declaring no costs, they wouldn’t process it either.

But surely no one was foolish enough to report taxes that way.

So he had to organize his accounts to prepare for the declaration.

After a whole day, with his neck and shoulders aching, Qin Lin finally finished calculating the accounts with software on his computer.

During this period, including today’s income, he had sold watermelons for 186,977 yuan with a calculated profit of 35,265 yuan; strawberries for 147,753 yuan with a profit of 36,938 yuan; and okra for 135,165 yuan with a profit of 33,791 yuan.

In other words, despite making over 400,000 yuan in revenue without initial capital, after deducting the normal costs for watermelons, strawberries, and okra, his profit was 105,994 yuan.

That meant the tax he owed, mostly at the 20% individual income tax rate plus 3% VAT for the portion exceeding 90,000 yuan, would amount to over 20,000 yuan.

It truly confirmed the saying: the more you earn, the more you pay. No wonder so many people think about evading taxes.

Before this, paying this much tax at once was unimaginable for him.

In a place like Youcheng, few people even earn 20,000 yuan a month, let alone pay over 20,000 yuan in taxes.

But considering he still had over 300,000 yuan in profit exempt from tax, paying 20,000 yuan wasn’t a big deal.

Having figured it out, he logged into the tax system as usual and began the online declaration.

After some steps, he awaited the review and acceptance.

The next day.

Qin Lin woke up and, as usual, picked the ripe strawberries and okra, then planted new seeds.

Opening the door, Wangcai’s whimpering greeted him again as the dog stretched its head toward him.

Qin Lin smiled and reached out to rub Wangcai’s head.

The dog had now formed the habit of waiting outside his door for him to get up, seemingly just to interact with him at wake-up time.

After breakfast, when Qin Lin went out, Wangcai picked up its leash and brought it to his hand.

After securing the dog in the shop, he headed to the warehouse to deliver the freshly picked strawberries and okra to RT-Mart. After finishing, he returned to the shop and, seeing the online tax declaration had been accepted, breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he rode his small electric scooter to the tax bureau.

Once the declaration was accepted, he could go to the tax bureau to obtain the invoice and pay the tax. Although online payment was possible, he had to bring documentation to apply in person.

This was his first time paying taxes in life, so naturally, he had to visit the tax bureau.

Unexpectedly, just as he parked his electric scooter outside the tax bureau, he saw a familiar Audi pull up.

Chen Hao got out with two colleagues and froze for a moment upon seeing Qin Lin.

He hadn’t expected to meet Zhao Moqing’s husband right after running errands with his coworkers.

Having created awkward moments twice in front of this guy, Chen Hao now disliked him the most.

However, Chen Hao smiled and greeted Qin Lin, “Fancy seeing you again.”

His two colleagues looked at Qin Lin, and one asked, “Chen Hao, do you know him?”

Chen Hao chuckled, “Sort of. He’s Zhao Moqing’s husband.”

When he said this, a strange grin appeared on Chen Hao’s face—this was his real intention.

Since learning Chen Hao liked Zhao Moqing, his colleagues had been asking about his progress with her; he didn’t know how to reply.

He wanted to take this opportunity to let his colleagues know Zhao Moqing already had a husband, and he was the kind who rode a small electric scooter.

Nowadays, anyone from a family with some means, after graduating and working, would at least have a car for a down payment, not ride a little electric scooter.

Moreover, with a wife like Zhao Moqing, riding a small electric scooter out in public was embarrassing.

That way, everyone’s attention would shift from whether Chen Hao had a chance with Zhao Moqing to pitying Zhao Moqing for having such a husband—like a bright flower planted in manure, lacking discernment.

His two colleagues would surely spread this gossip quickly.

Hearing Chen Hao’s words, the two colleagues glanced peculiarly at Qin Lin. Zhao Moqing was a star in the bureau, and no one expected she was already married, especially to someone who looked so modest.

Qin Lin recognized Chen Hao but didn’t expect him to greet him. Out of politeness, he nodded, “Hello.”

“Here to pick Moqing up again? But she doesn’t get off work so soon!” Chen Hao seemed to be reminding him, but really wanted to hint to his colleagues that Zhao Moqing’s husband rode a small electric scooter to pick her up.

“I just finished reporting taxes and came to pay,” Qin Lin replied politely, sensing the subtle superiority in Chen Hao’s tone but choosing to ignore it and walked inside.

Chen Hao and his two colleagues were taken aback.

One said, “Today’s the tax reporting day for individual fruit and vegetable vendors, right? So Zhao Moqing’s husband is an individual fruit vendor? If he meets the tax-paying threshold, his income must be pretty good.”

Another added, “At least over 10,000 yuan a month—that’s high income in Youcheng. A good business might bring in 20,000 a month, much better than us small-town civil servants.”

“No way! Someone earning 20,000 a month would still ride a small electric scooter?” Chen Hao frowned, muttering to himself as he looked at the shabby scooter.

He simply refused to believe it.

...

(End of chapter)