Chapter 553 Lottery, tax reduction, there is always one suitable for you

Chapter 554 Lottery, tax reduction, there is always something suitable for you

Joseph continued: “When purchasing raw materials, sellers must also obtain price certification documents from suppliers.

“Oh, this kind of certification document has a name, it’s called ‘invoice’.

“When a factory or store issues an invoice, it must be in duplicate, one for the buyer and one for the record.

"In this way, tax officials can simply learn about the seller's sales status based on the seller's invoice record, and determine how much VAT is due based on the corresponding purchase price - which can also be found on the invoice they purchase."

Robespierre's brain was working rapidly and he blurted out:

"Your Highness, what if the seller hides his sales invoice and keeps the bottom line?"

Joseph said unhurriedly: "Invoices must be collected by merchants from the tax bureau. Each invoice has a number, and the quantity and number received are recorded. If they issue an invoice to the buyer, there will be a corresponding record. . Otherwise, the number on the invoice will be missing, in which case the tax bureau will fine him—the fine will definitely be much more than the VAT.”

Robespierre nodded suddenly and immediately asked:

"Your Highness, how can we ensure that shops or factories will ask for invoices from sellers when purchasing goods?"

This time, before Joseph could speak, Fulco on the side said with an expression of "I don't understand this":

“If there is no purchase invoice, the purchase price will be calculated based on the lowest price in the market, and the store will pay a very high value-added tax.

"They can even be punished for suspected smuggling."

Robespierre's eyes suddenly lit up: "Sure enough, as His Highness said, this tax method allows buyers to supervise sellers, and tax officials only need to check the invoice book to avoid tax evasion."

As he was talking, he suddenly discovered the "blind spot" again, looked at Joseph and said:

"Your Highness, but for the final purchasers of goods, such as farmers, they do not need invoices at all.

"So there is no incentive to ask for an invoice, and if they don't ask for an invoice when buying something, there will be no record in the store's invoice book..."

"You noticed a very important issue." Joseph nodded.

In fact, the fact that ordinary people do not want invoices is also a headache for tax authorities in the 21st century. Many businesses have missed paying a lot of taxes as a result.

However, it is precisely because of this that later tax authorities also came up with many ways to deal with it.

"We can use some means to encourage people to ask for invoices." Joseph smiled. "For example, when all government departments and employees reimburse expenses, they must be based on invoices. No reimbursement will be made without an invoice."

The expenditures of government departments are not a small amount, and government personnel take the lead in asking for invoices, which can also play a guiding role in French society.

"Secondly, we can also organize an invoice lottery. Every used invoice number will have a lottery opportunity, and the tax bureau will announce the lottery results every month. The amount of the prize does not need to be too high, 3 sous to 1 franc is enough. The key is to win the prize The number should be large. If 100,000 winners are awarded every month, the total prize money is only 10,000 to 20,000 francs, which will attract many people to ask for invoices.”

The effect of the invoice lottery method is not very obvious in the 21st century, mainly because people in that era lived too fast, and no one was too lazy to waste time or save invoices.

But in the 18th century, the most indispensable thing for everyone was time. There are definitely a lot of people willing to "entangle" with the seller for a few sou bonus. And keeping bills is one of the basic responsibilities of housewives in this era.

Joseph continued: "Even the tax bureau can implement policies so that ordinary people can use invoices to deduct personal taxes. If you buy more things, you can pay less tax, which can also stimulate business.

"Of course, there must be a limit, such as a maximum deduction of 3 francs per person per month, to prevent the rich from evading taxes."

Robespierre and Fulco both nodded their heads after hearing this. Not to mention 3 francs, even if they can pay 3 sous less in tax, ordinary people in France will go crazy and ask for invoices when buying things.

But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still had no intention of stopping: "The last and most important method is publicity.

“We want to educate ordinary people about the importance of asking for an invoice.

"It's not that invoices are a guarantee of national taxation, but I'm telling them directly that invoices are needed to prevent wealthy people like factory owners and shop owners from evading taxes. And if there are too many wealthy people evading taxes, the government can only Raise the tax rate to ensure the country's financial stability, so ordinary people will pay more taxes."

The two tax bureau bosses had the same thought in their minds at this time - His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really understands human nature!

Ordinary people are more or less hostile to the rich - even if they don't do something because they can pay less taxes, if they can make the rich pay more taxes, then they will definitely be very active. Made.

After such a series of measures, France will soon start a craze for asking for invoices.

Robespierre said excitedly: "His Highness's VAT plan is simply perfect! In the future, tax officials only need to keep an eye on the invoices to eliminate most tax evasion situations."

Fulco nodded in agreement: "And it is foreseeable that the number of tax officers needed will also decrease. The tax bureau is currently short of manpower. This can solve a big problem!"

In the next few days, Joseph discussed in detail the plan to implement the value-added tax and invoice system with the top officials of the tax bureau, and later joined the "Paris Business News" editor-in-chief Denico.

It was near the end of the month, and with the front-page news of "Shock! They are quietly devouring your wallet, what can you do", the tax bureau announced the plan to change the commodity tax to value-added tax with great efficiency.

The Royal Printing House of Paris also fully cooperated to ensure that all invoice printing work would be completed within one month.

Subsequently, long queues formed in front of tax bureaus across France, and the craze for receiving invoice books began.

What Joseph did not expect was that the national treasury had received a large amount of income before the VAT was officially launched - in just half a month, the national tax bureau collected as much as 3.2 million francs in invoice fees.

At the same time, Robespierre's original plan to increase the training of tax officials was not delayed, and all tax bureaus trained for one and a half hours every day. And at Joseph's request, people from the Notary Investigation Bureau were invited to the tax bureau to give lectures from time to time.

...

Western Baltic Sea.

Kattegat Strait.

Although the British Royal Navy's fourth-class battleship "Polyphemus" only raised half of its sail, it was still very fast with the help of the ocean current.

At the current speed, it will reach its destination, Riga Port, in three days.

In the senior officers' dining room, British Foreign Secretary Lord Grenville looked at the plate in front of him and smiled at the Duke of Leeds opposite him:

"You won't have to suffer from these bad foods tomorrow. I really envy you."