American Tax Officer

Nicola once again questioned loudly, but McCauley still remained silent, uncertain of how to explain.

The lawyer standing by his side, Eulalia, also lost her voice when faced with this testimony and evidence.

But actually, it wasn't her fault.

Because the person the IRS arrested last night was sent to court today, there was not much time for her to prepare.

Moreover, how could she possibly know the IRS had so much information? In front of so many witnesses and exhibits, even with her extensive experience, eloquent speech, and agile thinking, she was like trapped in a quagmire, unable to exercise her power.

Seeing that the other party was not speaking, Nicola decided not to bother with him. She planned to deal with these big shots first and then turned to Will, questioning, "Mr.

Will, from some of the witness testimonies in the [Independence Day] crew, although you seem to be unaware, the remuneration you received at that time had an inflated component, so it seems it's also possible to consider you informed..."

"Your Honor, I really did not know, and it was them who offered me the high salary. Not being a fool, why would I refuse it? As for the part where they paid me too much and then exaggerated it, not paying taxes is their business, you can't blame me for that, I truly was completely unaware!"

Will became anxious, aware that the concept of whether or not one was informed was essentially ambiguous in his case.

One might say that if the judge subjectively thinks you were informed, then you are considered informed; if they think you were not, then you are not.

That's why so many prisoners take the risk of bribing judges because sometimes the inclination of the judges is just too important.

Nicola turned to look at David, who then came to the judge's bench, whispered a few words to her, and withdrew.

It was then that Nicola spoke out, "Mr. Will, based on the stability of tax law, as long as you plead guilty, we can waive criminal penalties for you. However, you will need to pay a penalty fine. Ms. Julie, the same applies to you. Do you agree?"

Upon hearing that criminal penalties could be waived, Will was overjoyed and, without even hesitating, said outright, "Your Honor, if criminal penalties can be waived, then I admit my guilt, and I'm willing to pay the fine!"

"Your Honor, I agree too!"

Julie was no fool. Now that the charges had been set, continuing to resist was not going to end well. And now, paying a fine to avoid criminal penalties was considered miraculous amidst misfortune.

"Well then, each of you will pay a tax evasion penalty of 30 million. That's not a problem, right?"

Upon hearing the figure of 30 million, both parties twitched at the corners of their mouths.

Although they were top-tier celebrities, 30 million US dollars was by no means a small sum for them either.

Despite the pain, Will couldn't help but say, "Your Honor, 30 million... isn't that a bit much, could it be less?"

Nicola's expression grew cold as she scolded, "You need to understand, the taxes you initially failed to report have been outstanding for ten to twenty years now. You've been overdue for so long, and now we're even waiving your criminal punishment. Is 30 million too much?"

"Well, okay then."

Although it still hurt, thinking of spending 30 million to evade criminal punishment actually seemed quite worth it.

After all, for celebrities of their caliber, this amount of money could be recouped in just half a year. If they really were criminally punished, their careers would be destroyed.

"Good, since you agree, you may now leave. But remember, you have to pay this tax within three days."

Hearing that they were released in court, Julie and Will both breathed a sigh of relief. However, after leaving the defendant's stand, they did not choose to leave but sat in the spectator's seats, because they too had suffered heavy penalties. If they could see that the rest of the people ended up with the same result, they would naturally feel more balanced.

"Mr. Hugh Jackman, you are now suspected of tax evasion, you..."

"Your Honor, if I could receive the same punishment as Will and Julie, then I would also plead guilty immediately!" Continue reading at empire

Nicola had not yet finished speaking when, to everyone's surprise, Uncle Wolf Hugh Jackman didn't even want to dispute the suspicion and was ready to admit fault.

But soon, everyone understood.

It's the same old saying, there are few old Hollywood stars who made a name for themselves in the last century who are completely clean.

And if David could dig up Julie's and the other celebrities' years of tax evasion history, then finding evidence on Hugh Jackman was altogether normal.

Therefore, with the precedent of Will and Julie, it was reasonable for Hugh Jackman to concede the difficulty and retreat...

"This..."

Nicola was somewhat undecided and looked towards David for guidance.

"Mr. Hugh Jackman, there's no rush to confess. Let's go through the procedure first, come, please call the witness..."

"..."

An hour later.

After the display of countless witness testimonies and exhibits, it again confirmed a fact.

That was, [X-Men], like [Independence Day] before it, had its production costs inflated by 25 million US dollars.

And this exaggerated cost of 25 million dollars was already secured from investors by the Fox Film Corporation at that time but had not been reported to the tax system.

So it was clear.