Tax Evasion for Fun and Profit

[rynling]

Foundations of the #MoneyLaundry - A Twitter Seminar thread
https://twitter.com/CZEdwards/status/1213597148274511872

What an excellent resource, honestly. I don't have or make enough money to even think about laundering it, but this is extremely useful for fiction-writing purposes. And this is such a good take-away point:

Truly: if we were serious about crime, we’d take most of the cops off the streets and replace them with accountants. Taking down the financial underpinnings of a criminal enterprise is way more effective than busting their entry level contractors.

Also...

Corporate owned shops usually have better auditing, so think indie small business — vending machines, bars, small hotels, restaurants, salons & spas, tattoo shops, gyms, car washes, convenience stores, cleaning services, car repair/customization/used parts.

...I swear that at least a quarter of the businesses I see on the street in Philadelphia are involved in money laundering in some way, since I can't imagine they can pay rent otherwise. Like, every time I see a cute store that sells terrariums, I smile to myself about "green business."

Comments

[lassarina]

When I worked for a mom'n'pop Kinko's-alike, the casualness with money was just absolutely baffling. It was very common for one of the owners to pop open the register, grab a 20, and say "hey, here's the starbucks order for us, and get something for you too." (This being in 2003, a 20 was more than sufficient for 3 people's Starbucks.) Because I am who I am, I faithfully brought back the itemized receipt every time and it was in the trash in under 30 seconds. Which is just my way of saying that I comprehensively believe that you could launder money so easily with a small business. (That business's income was about half and half "invoiced large orders for larger clients with better auditing" and "influx of cash from college students at the beginning of the semester"; at the time they didn't accept credit cards at all. Cash, check, or purchase order only.)