Tax evasion would be investigated, and tax audits in this era used a very simple method. At the end of every month, city hall would spend a month organizing accountants to randomly inspect one out of every ten tax returns from the previous month, comparing whether tax amounts had fluctuated over recent months and whether there were discrepancies in the names of payments. If the fluctuations were too large or there were problems with the entries, specialized city hall officials would visit to inspect the books, or calculate production costs by checking gas meters and similar methods.
Though it sounded complicated, in reality only tax-paying entities like Detective Agencies, where it was inconvenient to precisely verify business transactions, needed to be especially careful. There were indeed loopholes for tax evasion, but Shade had no such intentions. After all, he ran a legitimate business.
It took half an hour to complete the tax filing process at the tax department beside Blackstone Security Company. This time, Shade declared taxes for the past two months and paid the hefty sum of 7 pounds and 14 shillings.
That was no small expense. If Shade could earn that much every month, his annual taxes would barely reach three figures, surpassing the income level of most people in the city.
Looking at it that way, being a Detective was actually quite promising.
"Where did you buy this malt candy?"
Blackstone Security Company stood beside the Tax Bureau in the North District. Shade had come to see Iluna before, so this was not his first visit. The cat on the 1st Floor of the security company was still very enthusiastic toward Shade, but to keep the cat at home from getting upset, he did not pick it up this time.
Iluna met Shade in the resting room