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_pu
blink1000229492
Stevens, E. (2011). Tax preparation tips for cops. Retrieved November
19,

2015, from http://www.policeone.com/off-duty/articles/3422386Tax-preparation-tips-for-cops/

Taxable and Nontaxable Income. (2014). Retrieved November 19,
2015,
from https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf