American Tax Officer

He tossed and turned all night yesterday, this is over two hundred thousand we're talking about!

These are the hard-earned wages of his labor, his blood and sweat money!

He could pay, but definitely not right away; his plan was to delay as much as possible, each day meant a little more interest from the bank, after all.

And as for David's warning, he wasn't too worried.

It's not like I'm not paying, just a bit late; your IRS is just after money, they wouldn't arrest me, right?

But what he didn't anticipate was that the IRS didn't indeed arrest him, but they had their sights set on his house.

This was the house he had just bought, he hadn't even lived in it long enough to warm it!

Ibrahim became more and more anxious, quickly shut the shop door, and sped home in his car.

World Street was not far from their community, about twenty minutes, and he arrived at his front door in his car.

After parking, he almost ran into the living room, only to see David and Nisen sitting on the sofa with their legs crossed.

He anxiously asked, "Inspector David, what are you doing here?"

David turned his head, looked at the panting Ibrahim, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Mr. Ibrahim, if only you paid your taxes as quickly as you come home."

"I never said I wouldn't pay, why are you making trouble at my house?"

"Heh, me making trouble?"

David let out a cold laugh and slowly said, "I already notified you yesterday that you had to pay the taxes today. You didn't pay, and on top of that, you transferred over seventy thousand from your account. Do you think my words are a joke?"

Ibrahim's mouth twitched, obviously not expecting the fund transfer to be discovered so quickly; he quickly added, "In our business, it's normal to have tens of thousands in fund movements daily. I've already said I would pay you folks at the IRS. Let's just forget about this whole thing, shall we?"

David couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense.

He knew that with such a sly and cunning guy, without a lesson, he wouldn't learn. Being here today, David had to take a firm stand.

Only then would this old guy know to be scared and ensure he paid his taxes on time each month!

Seeing that David ignored him, Ibrahim grew more anxious. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed a man in a suit coming downstairs.

This man in the suit was none other than Basinuo, the one surveying the house.

Basinuo first glanced at Ibrahim, then approached David and said, "The house facilities and overall condition are quite good. According to the housing prices in this community, we can offer a price of three hundred and twenty thousand US dollars!"

Upon hearing this, Ibrahim felt his blood rush to his head, almost fainting.

When he bought the house, he had spent a hefty sum of five hundred thousand US dollars.

And now, after living there for just a few days, its value had dropped by a third?

David nodded and replied, "That will work, can the money be transferred to the IRS account immediately?"

Of course, he knew if the house was sold privately or listed for sale slowly, it would fetch far more than this amount.

But since it wasn't his property, as long as the sale covered the tax debt of over two hundred thousand, what did it matter to him if there was a loss?

"Of course, that can be arranged!"

"Good, then let's proceed with..."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute!"

Before David could finish, Ibrahim couldn't take it anymore, he interrupted and exclaimed, "This is my house, you can't do this!"

He was close to losing it.

This was his house, and these two seemed to be finalizing a deal in just a few words; he felt greatly insulted.

David turned to look at him and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Ibrahim. After the transaction is successful, I will only collect our tax amount. As for the rest of the money, we will not take a penny more and will return it all to you!"

"No, this is my house. According to the laws of America, this is private property of the homeowner; you can't dispose of it as you please!"

David replied, "According to federal tax law section 712, for those who owe tax debts, the IRS has the authority to seize any property of the debtor to satisfy the tax dues."

"According to Article 98 of the Black Tax Act, the IRS has the authority to arrest, try, deport, confiscate property, penalize with taxes... and some other coercive measures for those who evade taxes."

"Right now, I haven't arrested you, nor have I deported you; you should feel fortunate!"

David took out the auction order and continued, "Furthermore, this is an auction order issued by Judge Kiesa. From this moment on, the ownership of this house is no longer yours. If you have any questions, you can file a complaint with any court in Las Vegas!"

Looking at the auction order in front of him, as well as David's serious demeanor, Ibrahim truly became fearful.

Since he wasn't exactly a law-abiding citizen to begin with, how could he possibly dare to file a complaint in court? That would be like walking into a trap.

But the thought of just having bought the house and now facing an immediate loss of over a hundred thousand dollars was even more painful. He compromised on the spot, "Okay, okay, I'll pay right now, without a second's delay. Is that satisfactory?"

David shook his head, devoid of any emotion, and replied, "Mr. Ibrahim, had you done this earlier, wouldn't that have been better? But now it's too late!"

Ibrahim grew desperate and pressed, "What's late now? Didn't you say as long as I pay today, it would be fine? The day isn't over yet, what's late about it?"

"If I hadn't come here today, would you have paid?"

"This..."

Ibrahim was left speechless.

If David hadn't come today, he would of course have feigned ignorance.

David continued, "My time is precious. I could have settled your case this morning, but you've wasted half my day. Surely, you don't intend to waste Mr. Basinuo's time as well, do you?"

"Inspector David is right; if you do something wrong, you must face the consequences. I detest those who earn money in our country but don't want to pay taxes to our country!"

Basinuo agreed sagely.

He loved dealing with IRS most.

Because the IRS only cares about their taxes, they generally aren't too concerned about the house's price, and he could earn a higher commission and fees simply by pressing down the price.

"You... this..."

Ibrahim, on the verge of tears, turned to David and pleaded, "Inspector David, give me one more chance; I assure you I will never fall behind on my taxes from now on!"

David stood up, went over to him, patted his shoulder, and said, "Mr. Ibrahim, if you like this house so much, why not just buy it back at auction?"

"What?"

Ibrahim felt his brain short-circuit.

This was already his own house, and now he had to buy it back with his own money?

What kind of move was that?

Wait a minute...

The house was currently valued by the real estate company at three hundred and twenty thousand US dollars. If he reached an agreement with the IRS, that meant he would be at a net loss of a hundred and eighty thousand.

And once the real estate company relisted it, they surely wouldn't list it for just three hundred and twenty thousand—they'd likely add another hundred thousand or eighty thousand on top.

And if he bought it back, with one buy and one sell, wouldn't that mean a loss of over two hundred thousand?

Plus the additional two hundred thousand in taxes needed, that would be over four hundred thousand!

Ibrahim felt a stabbing pain in his heart, but before he could say anything, David spoke up first.

"Mr. Basinuo, please take care of the tax matter," said David.

Basinuo promised, "Don't worry, Inspector David. In no more than an hour, I assure you that the account will receive the money."

"Good, I have other matters to handle, so we'll leave it at that."

As Ibrahim watched David and Nisen walk out, he became frantic and immediately followed, continuously beseeching David for another chance.

But David paid no heed to his pleas and instead warned him again not to try any tricks, or else the consequences would be more than just an auctioned house.

In the end, Ibrahim could only collapse in despair on the ground, staring blankly as the Volvo drove away.