Fang Bai said, "Leader, if it's a financial difficulty, I do have a solution. I don't have much, but it's certainly possible to increase tax revenue by one or two million yuan in the short term, which should solve some problems."
Gu Wen smiled and waved his hand, "You're not going to say it's selling land, are you? That won't do."
The county has limited land resources, and it must be allocated to good projects according to the plan.
"Of course not. Randomly selling land is draining the pond to catch all the fish."
When Gu Wen heard Fang Bai say that, he became interested: "Oh, if it's not selling land to support the finances, tell me about it. I also thank you for helping the county government with its worries."
He said, and motioned for Fang Bai to sit on the solid wood sofa. Fang Bai nodded and sat on the sofa near the door. Secretary Wu personally poured tea for Fang Bai, and after pouring the tea, he exited the office.
Under normal circumstances, if a leader wanted his secretary to stay, he would naturally tell him to "stay and listen." If he didn't say so, then he didn't need to stay.
Fang Bai privately sought out Gu Wen and did not bring it up in the meeting room just now, naturally not wanting more people to know. Gu Wen naturally understood that they should talk in private.
After seeing Secretary Wu leave, Fang Bai said, "It's like this: I plan to hold a lottery event soon to promote the economy and Wen City culture.
The public participates voluntarily, with 2 yuan per draw. Prizes include santana cars, motorcycles, color TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, bicycles, and other items. The total value of the planned prizes is approximately ten million yuan.
Prizes will be selected as much as possible from local products to promote consumption and enterprise development.
Of course, I'm not doing this for free. If I'm lucky, I'll earn some hard-earned money; if I'm not, I'll lose a lot.
But regardless of whether it's profitable or not, I will donate 1% of the turnover to schools to support impoverished students, and 12.5% of the turnover will serve as a guaranteed tax."
Fang Bai did not find any explicit regulations for paying taxes on scratch-off lottery events. If it were truly to be calculated, corporate income tax of 25% and business tax of 3-5% would all need to be paid.
In 2002, the State Taxation Administration did have a rule that income obtained by welfare lottery organizations from issuing and selling welfare lottery tickets was exempt from business tax, but aside from returning prize money, issuance expenses, and public welfare funds, it was temporarily exempt from corporate income tax. However, the remaining large portion of profit was still subject to corporate income tax.
In other words, even public welfare organizations couldn't avoid corporate income tax, let alone a private enterprise holding such a large prize lottery event.
Fang Bai estimated that if the sales amounted to ten million yuan, his gross profit would be no less than five million yuan, and the corporate income tax would be no less than 1.25 million yuan.
His plan was roughly 16 million yuan in sales face value, with a total prize value of about ten million yuan. The purchase cost was estimated to be around five million yuan, with a maximum gross profit margin of about eleven million yuan. If taxed normally, it would be at least 2.5 million yuan.
Instead of passively paying, it's better to actively pay and use it as a bargaining chip for organizing this event.
It's difficult to conceal sales for this activity, so Fang Bai never considered tax evasion, to avoid being held accountable later.
As for the 1% donation, he naturally wanted to do good deeds, but of course, he also wanted to use this name to promote sales.
Excluding taxes and expenses, if all sales are completed, Fang Bai can earn seven to eight million in profit, but if sales are booming, he will continue for a few more days.
This kind of event can only be done once in a lifetime, and Wen City can only have such a large-scale event once every few years. Doing it again would significantly reduce its effectiveness.
Gu Wen was shocked by the information Fang Bai provided. It was the first time he had heard of such a lottery. He frowned slightly, his eyes bright, and he asked seriously, "Are there really santana cars as prizes?"
"Of course, no less than five. There will be no false advertising or shady dealings." Fang Bai planned to have five, but he would display no fewer than five cars.
Although he wouldn't engage in shady dealings, he would evenly distribute the scratch-off tickets for these grand prizes.
If there are 10 million tickets, one car ticket will be mixed in with every two million tickets. Only after these two million tickets are sold can the second batch of two million tickets be taken, rather than putting all tickets out for customers to choose from.
Unlike a few years later, there were too many shady dealings in lottery draws.
Gu Wen asked, "Then you're preparing millions of yuan in prizes. Do you need to invest such a large amount of capital?"
"The prize value will not be discounted. The industrial and commercial departments can verify the prices. I plan to prepare prizes worth ten million yuan."
"Prizes worth ten million yuan? Then what's the total face value of the lottery? Wouldn't it have to be over ten million yuan? And what's the winning rate?"
"The winning rate is 25%, and the planned total face value is around 16 million yuan. It seems like there's a gross profit margin of six million yuan, but after deducting taxes and expenses, even if all of it is sold, making three million yuan would be good. But if sales are poor, then I will definitely lose money." Fang Bai smiled faintly, understanding that the county chief would definitely ask about such matters clearly, otherwise, it might be mistaken for illegal fundraising.
Gu Wen took a sip of tea, pondering the nature of this lottery event.
If one were to nitpick, to put it harshly, it would be deceiving the public into gambling, and Fang Bai would be the dealer.
From another perspective, this is just a public event of small stakes for big returns, which can promote consumption and enterprise development.
But he finally understood that Fang Bai was certainly optimistic about this event. Even if there was a loss, it would be a small one, but if sales were booming, he could indeed make a large profit, certainly more than three million yuan. This guy didn't say how much the total purchase cost was.
It's not good to ask for specifics. Indeed, merchants rise early for profit.
Of course, Fang Bai also said that 12.5% of the sales revenue would be taken as guaranteed tax.
No matter what, for the county, it's a no-cost business.
If sales are booming, being able to collect around two million yuan in taxes can indeed slightly alleviate the county's burden.
Moreover, it has no negative impact on the county or on him. Fang Bai also said that this is a lottery event to promote economic development and Wen City culture, organized under the name of Xinghai Company.
Since there's no harm, Gu Wen agreeing to such an event is fine.
However, Gu Wen still cautiously asked Fang Bai:
"Are you so confident that you can definitely make it a success?"
Fang Bai replied, "All investments have risks; there's no such thing as a guaranteed profit. It's just that the odds are quite high, after all, the winning rate is so high, and it's not a fraudulent activity.
I need the support of the leaders and relevant departments."
Gu Wen nodded in agreement with his statement and asked again, "Hmm, tell me, what kind of support do you need?"
Fang Bai already had a plan in mind and said, "First, I need to obtain approval from the industrial and commercial departments.
Second, organizing such an event might involve tens of thousands of people, and there could be some pickpockets or hooligans causing trouble. We will need about ten police officers to maintain order at the event site.
Of course, after the event, I plan to donate some bicycles to the assisting departments. Some employees in these units still don't have bicycles, which makes commuting inconvenient and affects the public's ability to conduct business."
Fang Bai knew Gu Wen's general situation. He had only been in Yongjia County for less than half a year to gain experience, and his work was not progressing very smoothly at the moment.
Organizing such an event primarily requires personnel from the industrial and commercial departments to witness, and police officers to maintain order on site.
Fang Bai planned to donate fifty bicycles to each of these two departments to gain their support. The employees who receive the bicycles would naturally be delighted. If Gu Wen nodded in support, then he would naturally receive strong support from the leaders of both departments.
But from another perspective, after all, this is to increase tax revenue for the county, and the county should send some people to support such activities. Donating bicycles to those departments makes it more convenient for employees to go to work, giving them more energy to serve the public. This can also be considered serving the public, right?
Gu Wen pondered for a while longer, finally making a decision: "Alright, I agree to this event.
When you need it, I can greet these two departments.
However, I must remind you that you must conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and not engage in false advertising that harms the interests of the people."
"Of course, please rest assured, Leader.
Xinghai Company, having developed to a certain scale, will certainly give back to society." Fang Bai, having received Gu Wen's agreement, smiled and promised.
He finally got his imperial sword!
"By the way, when are you holding this event?"
"The plan is for the Lantern Festival. Time is a bit tight, so it might not be possible to arrange it. If we can't make it, delaying it by a few days is fine.
Without the leader's approval, I wouldn't dare to mess around with such an event." Fang Bai said with a chuckle.
Actually, the best time to hold it would still be during the Spring Festival, when people have time and money, but it's too late now.
There's nothing that can be done about it, so the event duration will be extended.
"Alright then, I'll call the leaders of the relevant departments in a moment."
"Okay, thank you, Leader." Fang Bai thanked him again. Time was a bit tight, and there were many things to do, so after a few words, he left Gu Wen's office.
The first and most crucial step, obtaining the county's approval, was finally achieved.
Next, for the second step, Fang Bai planned to gather personnel and assign tasks, as he couldn't handle everything by himself.