This is not my usual tax blog. I listened to the podcast below (The Shawn Ryan Show) and wanted to reflect on it a little.
Here is the full podcast that I just listened to. It’s long (about 3.5 hours), but once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop because I couldn’t believe my ears that all this was happening in reality. James Bond-style spy movies pale in comparison to this story.
What is the story about?
Since 2020, a Russian citizen living in the US (Aliia Roza, which is not her real name, of course) has been studying in a special program in Russia that trains people to infiltrate the beds of leading government officials, criminal groups, or business representatives and obtain information in this way. G.k. Russia’s neighboring countries, etc. in Europe.
What does this have to do with taxes?
Just a side note – one interesting aspect of the whole story was about the Russian criminal group she had infiltrated. There was also a special rule that each gang member had to share with the whole group for their common needs. If I heard correctly, it was 10%. They called it a common pot or something like that. (обшаг). So even groups like this understand that without a common pot, they cannot survive. Why would anyone (for example, the electricians who recently helped me at home and asked for payment (not a small amount – EUR 500) only in cash and without paperwork) still doubt that our society also needs a ‘common pot’? Why do criminals pay that 10%? Because they need the protection of the group and there will be serious consequences for not paying. Obviously, the electrician does not feel the need for ‘protection’ and is used to ‘free’ emergency services or schools, but most importantly, there are no consequences.
Read the full story by tax expert Jānis Taukačs here.
