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Richard

Tran
Professor Solcher
Acct 3350.001
Fall 2015
November 19, 2015
Tax Issues Identifying Project: The Dark Knight

The tax system in the United States is well structured in creating a civilized

society. People will always complain about paying taxes without understanding the
reason why we pay it. Ask yourself, What happens if we didnt pay taxes? Taxes
have to be levied to provide funds to our government, in order to live in a well-
mannered environment. The incentives of having a national defense system and
Social Security for when we retire is a great perk in paying taxes.

A utopian society will most likely never happen in our world. Not all citizens

will abide by the common rules laid out for us, but we are all guilty of breaking rules
ourselves. How often then not do we file income from mowing the lawn or
babysitting a familys child? A typical person would pocket this money without filing
for tax purposes, therefore earning the full amount. In the movie, The Dark Knight
the Joker breaks the rules and goes about society the way he pleases.

Maroni and his mob own the rights to the property of the warehouse and the

two cars that are pulling up for the meeting. In the scene, all of the employers at the
warehouse work for the mob but after negotiating, the employers now work for the
Joker. The employers are fully equipped with guns and so is the Joker. The Joker also
earns half of the mobs share from his services in retrieving the money back for the

mob. Additionally, the Joker opts to burn his half of the money by pouring gasoline
on the mountains of cash and throwing Checans cigar into the cash to light it. Bruce
Wayne is the chief executive officer and has the most shares of Wayne Enterprise,
giving him credit for ownership of this business. Reece, Lucius Fox, and Alfred are all
employees of Bruce Wayne. Commissioner Gordon and the rest of the police force
are required to wear proper attire and equipment to carry out their job duties.
In a mere three-minute clip of The Dark Knight, signs of multiple tax
implications are present. The gasoline, guns, and cigarettes are all items subject to
excise tax. The excise tax differs from sales tax in that it is not based on the sales
value of the product. Rather, an excise tax is typically imposed on a quantity, such as
a gallon of gasoline or a pack of cigarettes. Commissioner Gordon and his police
force may have a deductible on the uniform and equipment if the dollar value
exceeds the allowance and/or expenditure of the item. Schedule A (Form 1040)
offers a lot of tax incentives for police officers if they own a home and are thorough
in documenting their miscellaneous deductions.
Since Bruce Wayne is the owner of Wayne Enterprise, he is liable to his
employees Social Security tax and Medicare taxes. He is also subjected to property
tax for his business as well. Everyone in the scene is entitled to a standard deduction
based on his or her filing status. Both Bruce and Maroni are allowed to deduct their
expenses of the utilities and employee wages they provide. Maroni is also in charge
of his employees taxes and deductions where they see fit. The two cars that are
driving to the warehouse in the beginning of the scene could give Maronis
employees a tax deduction on their tax return. They can file the cars expenses as

business purposes and get a deduction from this result. The car can be furthermore
being deducted using either the standard mileage rate or actual cost method.
The warehouse of the mob is also subject to property tax as well. The
warehouse represents a capital expenditure and the Joker causes damages to the
building by putting it on fire. The capital recovery concept states that no income is
taxed until all capital previously invested in the asset are recovered. The repair and
maintenance expense due to fire can be considered a deduction. For all the new
employees that now work for him, he would need to start deducting taxes for
Medicare, Social Security, and federal withholding taxes from their paychecks.
The stacks of cash represent an illegal activity through money laundering
from the mob. The Joker obtains income from half of the mobs money from
bartering. However if he has it insured then any insurance proceeds would not
count as income since it would be reclaimed as a loss. But, for the movies sake the
Joker does not abide by the rules. The Joker is still liable for filing and paying a sales
tax report for any taxable sales despite the fact that he already burned his sales
potentially.
Under the all-inclusive income concept, all income received is considered
taxable unless some specific provision can be found in the tax law that excludes the
item in question from taxation. The tax law always starts with the proposition that
anything of value received is taxable. The Joker earned his money through illegal
activities based on the IRS. The IRS requires that the income from illegal activities
must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or
Schedule C-EZ(Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity. The scope of the

IRS under employee compensation requires the Joker to include everything he


received in payment for personal services in gross income.
People will tend to bend the rules to hide their true income. It is obvious that
laws and tax entities play a vital role in our every day lives. With a basic
understanding of how the tax system works, we could easily use all the deductions
to our advantage in a legal matter of course. In the scene of The Dark Knight, there
were tax implications of: excise tax, capital expenditures, all-inclusive income
concept, expenses, deductions, and business purposes. The United States would
have more federal funding to better our society if everyone did his or her share on
taxes. Being able to comprehend the tax laws is beneficial in saving money in the
long haul.











Work Cited
Murphy, K. (2015). Concepts in federal taxation 2015. S.l.: Cengage Learning.
Publication 525 (2014), Taxable and Nontaxable Income. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 19, 2015, from
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525/ar02.html#en_US_2014_publink10
00229492

Stevens, E. (2011). Tax preparation tips for cops. Retrieved November 19,
2015, from http://www.policeone.com/off-duty/articles/3422386-Tax-
preparation-tips-for-cops/

Taxable and Nontaxable Income. (2014). Retrieved November 19, 2015,

from https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf

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