Chapter 67: Cayman Islands
A King Air 350 touched down on the runway of Austin Municipal Airport. Michael enjoyed his first solo flight in his own personal Aircraft. Flying was a completely different experience now. There was no more waiting in long lines at the airport or being forced to sit next to snoring passengers.
Michael parked the plane in his hanger and drove to the office. Eminence gaming was rapidly expanding; the more games they published the more employees he would have to hire. Of course, by now the Human Resources team would take care of the hiring events. Michael just glanced at the resumes of everyone hired to verify their talents. He was satisfied with the level of talent in his company.
" Michael hold up" Michael looked around and noticed Kevin Malone running towards him. Why does the chief accountant look stressed out? Is there a problem with the finances?
"What's up Kevin?"
" Michael, Its time, are you ready?" Kevin asked.
Michael looked confused. " Time for what?"
" Time to file your taxes. Its February already. The tax deadline is approaching. I wanted to make sure you knew. I can take care of the company taxes but you shouldn't forget your personal taxes either." Kevin advised Michael.
Michael had completely forgotten about income Taxes. There was only one branch of the American government that operated efficiently: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They would come for your money even if you did not want to pay. In fact, the IRS has a law that they will not report money coming from criminal activities to law enforcement. They even expected criminal warlords to pay their taxes.
Fortunately, last year Empyreal holdings did not earn much money so they would not have to pay much. However, Michael, on the other hand, would have to pay hundreds of millions. He was not looking forward to giving up that much.
" You are right. I completely forgot about taxes. I will have to give too much." Michael sighed.
Kevin looked around to make sure that there was nobody around. " Michael, I don't want to get in your business. But most wealthy people do not pay any taxes at all. They hide their money in Offshore banks; I know some friends in the Cayman Islands that can help you out." Kevin handed Michael a Business card.
" They can also help with corporate taxes so you might want to set something up for the future of Empyreal Holdings."
Michael took the card and thanked Kevin for the advice. He was glad that his employees were starting to show loyalty to him. Michael started doing some research on Cayman Island and Tax evasion.
The results were astonishing; the Cayman Islands was one of the top tax havens where the ultra-wealthy buried their money from tax agencies. These countries would have no income taxes and would not allow bankers to cooperate with foreign tax departments. The firm that Kevin recommended was a law firm that specializes in helping clients like Michael that needed to hide large amounts of money. Michael called the firm and arranged for an appointment. Fortunately, he had his own plane now and could complete the 6-hour flight on his own.
The Next day
Michael landed his plane in the regional airport at Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman was the biggest island and the main island of Cayman Islands. He paid for hanger storage and grabbed a taxi to the law firm. Raymond Platt Associates was based out of an inconspicuous office building.
After paying the taxi driver, Michael walked into the small office. He met the receptionist and mentioned that he was here to discuss a new account. Eventually, a tan middle-aged man walked out to greet Michael.
" It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Michael. My name is Raymond; you can call me Ray if you like. Kevin has told me a lot about you." The man extended his hand.
Michael shook his hand and smiled. " How do you know Kevin? Also, what did he say about me exactly?"
Ray smiled; " I know him from college; we were roommates. Don't worry, He only told me that you had tremendous potential. I have never heard of him praise anybody so much. So I was looking forward to meeting you."
Michael did not feel his detection skills going off so Ray was telling the truth. " Well, I am just a small-time entrepreneur who got lucky."
Ray smiled, he did not agree with Michael. Small time Entrepreneurs would not have enough money to hide that they needed to visit the Cayman Islands. That was for people who had so much money that they could not find enough places to hide it. Of course, Ray was a professional so he did not say anything to Michael.
Ray lead Michael to his office and offered him some refreshments.
" So, I think I know why you are here Michael. But would you like to explain in detail?" Ray finally approached the main issue after some small talk.
" Well, I am looking to set up some Offshore accounts and shell companies. I am an international businessman looking to set up a tax-free headquarters." Michael explained enough so that Ray would understand.
" Of course, That is our specialty. We are very familiar with US Tax laws and can help you avoid paying the exorbitant taxes." Ray went on to explain how they worked.
The wealthy used a combination of offshore bank accounts and shell companies to hide money. They would set up a maze of companies in countries that would not share the information with others.The actual subsidiary companies in America would not show any profits; all the profits would be made by a parent company that happened to be in a tax-free country.
Michael's favorite technique was transfer pricing. Transfer pricing is a method used for transactions among corporations owned by the same parent company. It was especially used for international companies that had businesses in countries with high tax rates.
Ray used the example of the famous chip manufacturer Pintel. Pintel chips were manufactured in Mexico for cheap labor. The subsidiary in Mexico would sell the chips to Pintel International at cost. Pintel International would then sell to Pintel USA at the retail cost. Therefore, both companies in the US and Mexico would not have any profits since they were selling at cost. However, the headquarters would make tremendous profits. Of course, the headquarters was also coincidentally located in a tax-free country.
After a lengthy discussion, Michael had a rough idea on what kind of a set up he wanted. He agreed to meet Ray tomorrow to finalize everything.
"Before you leave, Would you like a tour of the Office? I have something special to show you." Ray asked.
"Sure, Why not?" Michael agreed. Ray guided him to the back of the office. What Michael saw in the back left him speechless.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Red_Tempest
Red_Tempest Thanks for Reading.
I hope this answered some questions.
Damn Cliff-kun is back
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