Chapter 224 Valuable Pineapple Garden

Chapter 224 Valuable Pineapple Garden

Chapter 224 Valuable Pineapple Garden
The southern tip of Formosa.

Kenting is surrounded by the sea on three sides, attracting many people to vacation every year.

Due to the suitable climate and land, there are many orchards in the area.

Zhuang Muxi's pineapple orchard is located between Dajianshan and Kenting Ranch, next to Duding Nature Park, with superb scenery.

I have moved to Hong Kong for more than three years.

This time, Zhuang Muxi came back mainly to visit his grandparents.

During the meal, the old couple kept muttering to themselves, saying that they had their own big house to live in, so why should they stay in the port city and live in a "pigeon cage" or something like that.

Her father countered that it was easier to make money working in Hong Kong and there were more opportunities, otherwise how could Zhuang Muxi become a star and earn NT$1 million in half a year.

The family had been farmers for three generations, making a living by taking care of a large pineapple field. But by the time of Zhuang's father's generation, they were really tired of it, so they decided to go out and try their luck.

It’s one thing to fail in your endeavors.

The current situation in Zhuang Muxi's family is another matter.

Since moving to The Leighton Hill in Happy Valley and quickly paying off their mortgage, her parents often lamented that it was a wise decision to move to Hong Kong.

The price of farmland in Taiwan is the most expensive in the world, but although the land is valuable, the annual income it brings is limited.

Zhuang Muxi's grandfather is quite business-savvy. He processes his own pineapples and makes them into pineapple cakes for sale. Relying on his good reputation, he maintains long-term cooperation with many stores and mainly sells them to tourists.

They were not rich, but their family conditions were much better than those of the surrounding farmers. More than ten years ago, they built a modern country villa with a large sloping roof and full of German style near the pineapple orchard.

After living in Hong Kong for a few years, I felt a little uncomfortable when I returned to my hometown.

Zhuang Muxi had nothing to do, so she accompanied her bestie Xu Xin for a stroll. Not only were they dragged to "Maobitou" to see the sea, but Xu Xin also wanted to go snorkeling in Wanlitong, and then take a hot air balloon ride and experience paragliding.

If you're just best friends, there's certainly nothing wrong with making such a request.

However, Zhuang Muxi was already tired from filming recently and had no interest in the attractions in her hometown. She just wanted to rest comfortably for a few days.

When she let Xu Xin go out and play by herself, this best friend seemed quite unhappy.

This is probably the reason why Zhuang Muxi began to feel that it was not appropriate for her friend to stay by her side and continue to be her assistant, and it began to feel like she was taking charge.

But Xu Xin himself seemed unaware of it.

She even suggested finding a small bar in the evening, hoping to meet a handsome local guy she liked and take a boat to Green Island to visit the white lighthouse.

With Fan Wumian only in her mind, Zhuang Muxi certainly didn't want to drink with other boys, so Xu Xin went out by herself and didn't come back until midnight, vomiting all over the toilet.

Successfully woke up her entire family.

After her mother helped Xu Xin clean up, she dozed off with her hands covering her mouth. She sighed and asked who was whose assistant.

This left Zhuang Muxi speechless.
Because of the great surrounding scenery, it is also a tourist city.

Not far from her pineapple orchard, some farmland has been targeted by developers, who have found ways to change its use and divide it into small units.

On the surface, it was said to be building farmhouses, but in fact it was used to build villas and sell them to rich people for vacation enjoyment.

In June.

Next to Zhuang Muxi's pineapple orchard, more than 20 holiday villas were just launched and sold out quickly.

This has caused the surrounding farmland to become more valuable, and some farmers hope to hit the jackpot and have their land bought by developers at high prices, and then move to big cities to live.

The countryside is also a besieged city.

People inside want to get out, and people outside want to come in.

On the third day after returning to Kenting, Taiwan, the reporters who came to interview Zhuang Muxi arranged by the agent had just left.

A short, fat old man with a big belly, wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, suddenly came to visit.

He said he had his eyes on Zhuang Muxi's pineapple orchard and planned to buy several pieces of farmland next door and develop it into a rural holiday estate.

The location of the pineapple garden nearby is really good. It is close to the road with convenient transportation and you can enjoy the mountain view. Whether you want to go to Kenting Street or to attractions such as Manzhou Beach and Longzaipu Grassland, it is only a few minutes away.

In the past, Zhuang Muxi’s grandparents would definitely not agree.

But now that they are old and don’t have the energy to take care of it, Zhuang Muxi and Zhuang’s father probably won’t take over this 174-acre pineapple orchard. So after understanding the situation, the family sat down to discuss it.

During lunch.

Zhuang Muxi's grandfather, holding a bowl of rice with a serious expression, said:
"There are two plots of land in your home, both of which are dry fields covering an area of ​​6 hectares. Now someone is willing to buy them at a high price. What do you think?"

1 hectare of land is equivalent to 14.5 mu.

Father Zhuang said decisively:
"12 acres of land, each acre is priced at NT$1000 million. Of course it's better to sell it directly. Anyway, they promised to keep the house, and you can still live here. You can also move to Hong Kong City and settle down with us, but they speak Cantonese there, which may be a bit inconvenient for life."

Grandpa Zhuang Muxi was very reluctant and said:

"This is a family business passed down from our ancestors. Can you sell it just by talking?"

"What else?" "Dad, the market price of a piece of A is about NT$800 million. If they can offer NT$1000 million, it's already very reliable."

"Anyway, we have already moved to Hong Kong City to settle down, and you have worked hard all year round, and you only make three or four million New Taiwan dollars in total. You rely on the weather for your livelihood, and you may even lose money when the prices are bad. If you put it in the bank and earn interest, everyone will have an easy life in the future."

Mr. Zhuang’s previous idea was to come back if he couldn’t make it in Hong Kong.

The developer came to me today and I discovered that there was another option, which immediately made me excited.

Although the heirloom land is valuable, it is not real money after all. Since I have no intention of coming back to cut pineapples, I might as well take the opportunity to sell it at a high price.

At the dinner table.

Xu Xin lowered her voice and asked Zhuang Muxi, "How much is 1000 million New Taiwan dollars?"

Zhuang Muxi took out his phone and opened the calculator. After calculating the exchange rate, he replied, "About 245 million Hong Kong dollars."

". Doesn't that mean it can be sold for more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars in total? I always thought your family was very ordinary, but it turns out you are so rich!?"

Xu Xin felt jealous again.

Zhuang Muxi was quite open-minded and whispered:

"You can only make money if you sell it. If you don't sell it, it's just land. The transaction tax is very high. Several decades ago, my family had 6 to 6 hectares of farmland, but later a lot of it was divided up, leaving only hectares. My grandmother's family also had hectares, and they used to be neighbors."

The reason why farmland in Taiwan is expensive is not because the crops produced are profitable, but the main reason is that you can build your own house on the farmland.

Nowadays, many people with connections have begun to take advantage of loopholes and use agricultural land to develop residential properties for sale, which has once again pushed up the price of agricultural land.

However, most farmers own very small pieces of land. For a farmer like Zhuang Muxi, the land he owns is considered relatively large in the local area, and it is not easy to sell it.

Her grandmother is in her sixties. While taking care of the pineapple orchard, she fell twice last year and broke her bones.

The older generation is getting older, and many of the surrounding farmlands have been abandoned, with even fewer tenants to pay rent or contract.

We discussed it from noon to evening and again the next day.

In the end, I couldn't resist the temptation and decided to discuss it with the developer in detail.

The other party was quite cunning and tailored a tax avoidance transaction plan, asking Zhuang Muxi's grandparents to "donate" the farmland to a charitable foundation registered overseas under their group.

In return, their group spent a high price and used overseas funds to hire Zhuang Muxi as their spokesperson.

The contract was signed for a total of 500 years at a price of HK$6 million per year, to endorse the department stores and hotels under their group.

This way.

Not only can the company avoid taxes, it can also save the cost of hiring spokespersons.

But Zhuang Muxi didn't want to lose the big picture for the small, so after discussing with her parents, she was worried that she might get into trouble in order to save transaction taxes, so she made a special call to Fan Wumian.

Fan Wumian doesn’t quite understand this.

I heard that the land transaction tax is frighteningly high, with the highest tax required being 40%, which means paying several million Hong Kong dollars in land value-added tax. So I contacted a knowledgeable lawyer to help me clarify the situation.

to be frank.

When Fan Wumian heard the price, he was also shocked.

I knew before that Zhuang Muxi's pineapple garden was valuable, but I didn't expect it to be worth so much. No wonder she spent millions of Hong Kong dollars to move her family to Hong Kong.
The law firm helped with the investigation and quickly gave Fan Wumian a reply.

Although I was told that this kind of transaction was a loophole, I couldn't find any major faults with it. After all, Zhuang Muxi was indeed a star, and the price of her endorsement was indeed 500 million Hong Kong dollars a year.

It is entirely possible to regard "donating a pineapple orchard" and "finding Zhuang Muxi as the spokesperson" as two unrelated things. As long as those in the know don't make a big fuss about it, they will surely win even in court.

Fan Wumian thought about it carefully and felt that the buyer was making a lot of calculations.

Because if the HK$3000 million endorsement fee is regarded as the cost of acquiring the pineapple orchard, it would be tantamount to taking the opportunity to let Zhuang Muxi serve as the spokesperson for 6 years in vain.

If calculated based on market prices, the endorsement fee for inviting Zhuang Muxi to be the spokesperson for 6 years would be at least around HK$1500 million.

but.

By exploiting the loophole in this way, both sides can win.

Otherwise, as the seller, the total tax amount paid by Zhuang Muxi's family would exceed 1200 million Hong Kong dollars, and if the money came into her hands in the form of "endorsement fees", she would only need to pay personal income tax in Hong Kong, and avoid the inheritance tax in Formosa in advance.

The buyer has already settled the bill, and Fan Wumian feels that this is not the first time the other party has done this.

It's similar to the United States. The tax department's sickle cannot cut big companies and the rich, and it slips through like a sieve.

I feel the risk is still within controllable range.

After carefully understanding the situation, Fan Wumian, who was in Yanjing, suggested that Zhuang Muxi agree to the deal, but he must try his best to clear himself from the matter, get help from professional lawyers, and provide more layers of cover.

If it really doesn't work, she can push her biological father out as a shield. Her father doesn't rely on fame to make a living anyway.

It was a matter of millions of Hong Kong dollars, and Zhuang Muxi's father was obviously willing to take some risks. After all, with his income from work, he would have to work for 30 years to earn that much money.
(End of this chapter)