Mercer shook his head, trying not to laugh: "Not afraid of the company tracking you now? Weren't you scared to death of those agents?"
"Damn it, now it's their turn to be afraid of me!" V glared, looking like anyone who dared to come would die.
That's the spirit, V... a monster born of capitalism.
Mercer chuckled a few times, and packed up the drone.
"Let's go, deliver the commission, we have at least 300,000 Euros waiting for us to collect."
V eagerly hopped into the passenger seat, still clutching that Million Euros without letting go.
Mercer didn't bother teasing her, just let the silly kid enjoy herself for a moment.
The car left Taiping District, heading straight for Twist Street in the Kabuki District.
Mercer got out, originally intending to call V to go together, but V came down clutching the box—seeing this, Mercer couldn't help but rub his temples.
Where dare V leave a Million Euros in the car! It appears that she won't let this Million Euros out of her sight until the money from the chip is deposited in the bank.
Mercer simply let her stay in the car, took the box containing the medicine to meet Wagako.
The familiar security guard stood in front of the office hallway, but this time, he was noticeably more courteous towards Mercer.
"Ms. Wagako is waiting for you inside."
The guard even smiled and nodded slightly at Mercer—compared to his previously arrogant demeanor, he seemed much friendlier now.
Mercer nodded, walked through the corridor, and entered Wagako's office.
This old lady was beaming at Mercer, and before Mercer could speak, she greeted him warmly:
"Good morning, A, it seems our commission went smoothly?"
"The medicine sample is here, the immune agent's information is here."
Mercer took out a storage chip and placed it on the table, then paused, "I also got a lot of interesting news and data from Biotech's server. As agreed, you should give me a fair price."
"Of course, my child, I never mess with this part." Wagako said, looking at him expectantly.
Mercer didn't dally, took out another chip, and put it on the table, "This is a list of valuable data I extracted from the database myself. You review it, find a buyer, and give me a quote.
If the price is right, I'll directly send the relevant data to your designated email."
Wagako took it, placed it on the table, and said, "Great, but to be safe, I think it's best to trade data on a storage chip, as you know, there are too many hacking tricks nowadays."
Mercer nodded, "That works, I'll wait for your response later. The transfer can wait a little... By the way, does Ms. Wagako have any tax evasion strategies?"
"Tax evasion?"
Wagako looked at Mercer appreciatively, "Very few mercenaries consider these things from the start like you do. It's simple, I know a familiar bank, you can find a professional there to open an 'offshore account' for you."
"How does it work?" Mercer was intrigued.
"Although most companies respond to Night City's taxes, for some European Community-based banks, they don't care about Night City's rules.
You just need to show intent, you can apply for an offshore account, and the money you deposit is equivalent to income acquired in a special low-tax area overseas, this money will automatically be laundered once and then fall into your offshore account.
Only need to pay a 2% deposit tax when depositing, and thereafter just pay a 0.1% extra service fee per transaction.
It's like every penny you spend comes from the offshore account, Night City can only see your expenses but not your income.
This is a special service opened by the bank for mercenary teams, only offered to special individuals with large consumption and income, only those deemed 'VIP' clients by them can handle this business.
Of course, if you accidentally die one day, don't expect these bloodsuckers to return your money, they'll hide your account securely, anyone trying to inherit will be messed around by the legal department for a long time.
Then, just to get your money back, a hefty inheritance tax needs to be paid locally."
After Wagako finished speaking, Mercer decisively nodded, "This is it."
For now, use this account to avoid taxes, and later Mercer will consider creating a legitimate company to perform tax-free operations through the company channel.
It's not difficult, knowing that in 2076, Night City waived 32 companies' income taxes directly, shows how wonderful a place it is for companies here.
However, for ordinary people, this isn't the case, even if your annual income is only 10,000 Euros, you have to obediently pay taxes.
Because Night City's tax threshold is 1,000 Euros monthly, as long as this value is reached, at minimum, 25% personal income tax must be paid.
And opening this account is essential too, as money in the virtual wallet stored on a personal chip, though it escapes bank monitoring, also means once the data gets corrupted or stolen, the money is directly gone.
"Go to this European Community bank, I'll inform the manager you're my contact, he'll only charge a fee and not waste time verifying your qualifications, you and your team members can all apply for one, he'll be happy to serve you.
After all, the service fee per transaction seems small, but mercenaries earn and spend quickly, back and forth, the bank flow appears, profits are gained, not to mention if something unexpected happens..."
Wagako smiled and sent these details to Mercer's communication software.
Mercer nodded, "Thanks, Wagako. Once the account is set up, I'll send it to you, just transfer directly to this offshore account."
"No problem." Wagako replied with a smile.
After that, Mercer turned and left, returned to the car, where the dazed V was still clutching that Million Euros, glancing around as if afraid someone would snatch it.
"Where to next?"
"To the bank to set up a new account, everyone needs to do it too."
Mercer straightforwardly took V to the city center, found the bank Wagako mentioned, and set up all the bank accounts in less than twenty minutes.
This included Rebecca and the others' accounts, all processed remotely with just an internet connection.
The cost was 1,000 Euros for the fast VIP processing channel—basically, you have to fill these company dogs' bellies first, otherwise such special accounts can't be handled.
The bank company dog's subtext was that with money, the account could be opened immediately, without money you'd have to queue and wait for some time, forever how long you don't ask, as this offshore account opening process you can't see.
Anyway, it's just 1,000 Euros, Mercer didn't drag it out, and directly paid up.
Only V glared at that company employee fiercely, looking like she's ready to club him at night, staring so much that the company dog's processing sped up a bit.
Then Mercer directly used the bank channel to deposit the Million Euros on the money chip and the small 300,000 Euros in the virtual wallet, all into the account by equity proportion.
Team funds and Mercer's own money were all deposited into Mercer's account, others got their portion based on the previously agreed amount, V took 30%, and the rest 10% was transferred to their accounts.
Mercer also preemptively sent the 300,000 Euros not paid by Wagako proportionately to avoid paying a 0.1% transfer service fee later.
Such costs add up indeed.
Mercer calculated that simply depositing money, pre-deducting the 2% 'tax', amounted to a full 30,000 Euros, which made V sell her life several times over.
Tsk tsk, capitalist profit is ruthless indeed!
As for what they call paying taxes to an offshore low-tax area... where is any place with a 2% tax rate?
Those places are obviously colonies controlled by the banks themselves, probably those places the banks are collecting the taxes themselves, money's definitely in the banks.
Done with banking matters, Mercer didn't tarry, immediately dialed Hans's phone.
Now with money in hand, it's time to get himself a place!
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