Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #26
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Idle Talk: There's no escaping the ...... tax!
The
day after Valentine's Day.
I
was at home in my living room looking at yesterday's spoils.
On
the table was a huge pile of valentine's day chocolates.
The
number of chocolates was probably between ten and twenty.
I
still can't believe ...... that the day when I get this many chocolates will
come.
The
sad part is that ...... all of them are 'giri' (obligatory) chocolates.
At
that moment, a shadow popped out from the side of the table.
A
plump labrador retriever. It was my dog, Maru.
He
sniffed and tried to put his face in the chocolate on the table.
"No, no, no! Maru, you can't!"
Then
I hurriedly pushed Maru's snout back.
It
was common knowledge among dog-owning households that you shouldn't let your
dog eat chocolate.
So, of course, I'm careful not to let Maru have any
chocolate for that reason, but this stupid dog, I don't know what he thought,
but whenever he saw chocolate, he would try to bite it no matter what.
Perhaps
he thought, "That food that the masters keep all to themselves must be so
delicious that they don't want me to eat it!".
As
a result, this idiot dog had never eaten chocolate, but he really loved it,
which was something I don't understand.
...... is he suicidal?
As
I was wrestling with Maru that was trying to rob me of my chocolate,
"Good morning. What are you doing over there?"
My
dad came down from upstairs. He looked at the pile of chocolates on the table and
his eyes widened.
"Hoh, are those chocolates? Could
it be, from Valentine's Day?"
"Uh, um, well, yeah..."
"My, aren't you popular? I
can't believe my son is so charming. When I was a student, I was not popular at
all. Maybe I was born in the wrong era?"
My
father said to me with a smirk and added a laugh, which made me frown.
"It's not that I'm popular. It's just for fun and to
cheer us up. And there was never a time in the past or future when our kind of
faces were popular."
My
father's face and mine were the same: unremarkable, mob face.
The
only difference was that he had beautiful double eyelids and kind eyes. Other
than that, he looked exactly like me, thirty years later. I was totally like my
father.
"I see...... Well, don't worry, a man is not about
face. It's money and education. Your mom chose me because of my income and my
easy-going personality."
I
didn't know what to say to my father who said such a sad thing with his chest
puffed out.
By
the way, my mother is quite beautiful, even coming from a son like me.
She
and my father were almost ten years apart in age, and she looked quite young
for her age, so when she and my father stood side by side, they looked more
like father and daughter than husband and wife.
My
old man is still in awe of his pretty wife even after more than a decade of
marriage, and he treated her like a princess. He never complains even if he had
to give her an allowance of 10,000 yen a month.
It
should be noted that Ai completely resembled our mother, and only her eyes
resemble our father's.
Ai
got all the excellent parts of both of our parents. While I am a combination of
the mediocre parts of both of our parents.
The
heartless old ladies in the neighborhood would say things like, "It's a
good thing your brother took the unwanted bits first."
If
I had been the younger brother instead of the older brother, I would have been
called a 'dried up'.
"...By the way, Utamaro. I'd like to talk to you
about your job."
My
father's face suddenly turned serious, and I became a little nervous.
My
parents were not very fond of my profession as an adventurer, which was full of
danger, and they always tried to persuade me to retire from the business.
Seeing
me like this, my father chuckled.
"Oh, there's no need to be so uptight. After seeing
the tournament and your recent hard work, we decided to watch over you for a
while. Well, if you get hurt or anything, I'll have you quit immediately.
"You- you mean it......?"
"Yeah, it looks like you have some dependable
friends. So, here's the thing......."
"Hmm......?"
When
I sat back down in my chair, my father seemed more serious than ever.
"...... You, are you sure you're ready to file your
tax return?"
"........................... Huh?
I
couldn't help but tilt my head at my father's words.
Being
an adventurer is a full-fledged profession.
It
basically involved going into the dungeons and earning an income by selling the
things you find there, making it classified as a primary industry.
Although
those who mainly make a living by playing games, such as Moncolo, were treated
under the tertiary industry, the basic job was to dive into the dungeons and
gather resources.
As
long as there was income, there would naturally be taxes involved.
Taxes......
was a word that may not be familiar to students.
Even
if they earn money from a part-time job, they usually don't have a sense that
they are paying taxes because their employer will do the year-end settlement on
their behalf.
However,
it was a different story for adventurers, who were not employed by anyone.
Adventurers
are self-employed.
They
must do the calculations themselves and file their own tax returns to the tax office.
There were two types of tax returns, white and blue1, and adventurers are
required to file the latter.
I
was oblivious, but it seemed that the documents I submitted when I became an
adventurer included the blue tax return form as well.
If
I don't complete the blue tax return, ......I will be going through hell.
The
basis of taxes was that it was multiplied by income. Income was defined as
earned revenue minus expenses and deductions.
However,
if you do not file a tax return, the tax office simply charged tax based on
last year's income.
For
example, in my case, I earned almost 8 million yen last year.
Then,
if you ask me how much I have left, it was almost zero
This
was because I blew it all on buying cards and magic items, converting magic
item into card, and so on.
Since
these were necessary for my adventures ......, i.e., for my work, they were
naturally recognized as expenses.
So,
no matter how much revenue I earn, my income was close to zero, so I don't really
have to pay any taxes on it.
However,
if I do not file a tax return and cannot prove my expenses, my revenue will be
considered as my income, and I will have to pay taxes on the entire 8 million
yen.
The
tax on income below 9 million is a whopping 23%. …I will have to pay taxes that
are too terrifying to calculate.
It seemed that every year, student adventurers who do not
fully understand the tax return process and skip the filing process end up
receiving a frightening visit from the tax bureau.
Therefore,
every adventurer MUST file a tax return.
I
panicked for a moment when I learned that I needed receipts to file my tax
return, but to my relief, I had left a large number of receipts in my wallet.
I
had a bad habit of stuffing the receipts I get into my wallet, and that proved
to be a good thing.
The
following was a general outline of the tax return I filed following my father's
explanation.
【Results
for year 2018】（Amounts less than 10,000 yen are not calculated)
・Adventurer's
income 7,870,000 yen (sale of magic stones, etc.) - Expenses (information fee
290,000 yen, card purchase cost 7,500,000 yen (6,500,000 yen empusa + 1,000,000
yen card pack), cost of converting magic item to a card 1,000,000 yen,
adventurer supplies 50,000 yen, transportation expenses 10,000 yen,
miscellaneous expenses 20,000 yen) = 0 yen
・Part-time
job (tax withheld) - Deduction 1,030,000 yen (basic deduction of 380,000 yen +
deduction for employment income of 650,000 yen) = 0 yen
......At least, I don't have to pay taxes this year.
I
breathed a sigh of relief.
The
wide range of expenses for adventurers helped me a lot.
By the way, the most expensive thing I got this past year
was the vampire card, but I didn't have to pay any taxes on it.
Prizes
given through TV or sweepstakes were taxed if they exceeded a certain amount,
but there was no tax on the cards as long as you actually earned them.
This
was done in consideration of the fact that cards to adventurers are like
fishing boats to fishermen and tractors to farmers, whereas they cannot be
replaced in any way.
Adventurers
would go bankrupt if they had to pay taxes on each and every card they acquire,
which they could lose as early as tomorrow.
Therefore,
no tax is imposed on cards obtained at tournaments.
Of
course, the money you get from selling these cards does have to be taxed.
"If you're serious about being an adventurer, next
year you're going to have to start doing it yourself. If your revenue is going
to be too big, it might be a good idea to consult with a tax accountant. There
are a lot of tricks out there, you know."
"........................"
There
was a time when I thought... that being an adventurer was a dream job, free
from all kinds of restrictions, full of fantasy, and attracts a lot of girls.
But
in reality, it was quite rough and tedious, and although it may look like it
attracts girls, in reality, it's all about the money.
You
can't really get the girl of your dreams, the actual income is not that much
because of the expenses, there is a risk of death, and above all, you still
can't escape from the devil's hand called tax.
.................. I guess being an adventurer is a
surprisingly dreamless profession.
I
am now one step closer to adulthood.
【Tips】Expenses
for Adventurers
The
range of expenses acceptable for adventurers is very wide. The cost of
purchasing cards, most magic items, the cost of converting items to cards, the
cost of purchasing motorcycles and cars, and even the cost of purchasing food
are all recognized expenses.
However,
this acceptable purchase of cards and magic items is only if they are purchased
from the guild or an authorized store.
Cards
obtained through individual transactions are not considered an expense. This is
because it is impossible to prove that the card was really bought or whether
they claimed to have bought something they obtained on their own.
......Such
is the pretext, but it is in fact one of the measures taken to reduce the
exchange of cards and magic items outside of the guild.
The
guild's stance is that they don't prohibit exchanges not made through the
guild, but they will not be involved in any problems caused by it and they
don't have any idea about the taxes incurred by it.
***
Notes:
1 A tax return prepared based on the financial statements is named as “blue tax return” and the one prepared based on the breakdown of revenue and expense is called “white tax return”.↩
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