The Famous Millionaire

Hyunwoo sent Yu Nami and Jang back home early that evening. When he went back home, he calculated the amount of the individual refunds. The formula for the individual refunds was complicated upon review.

“There are five import wheels per one chair, and the refund of each wheel is…”

He sorted out the material on the refund on Excel every evening in the office after other team members left. It took him four days to transfer the data to Excel. Also, he spent another two days linking the imports to the exports. In other words, it took him six days to calculate even one item refund, but the outcome was very much frustrating.

“What the heck is this? Just this small amount?”

The amount was 13 million won. Though he expected much less, given the low ratio of import material, it was still far less than he thought.

I think I have to find a different way. Is there a better way?

It wasn’t something he could find out alone.

He looked at the book again and focused on recovering the refund in the office.

Just to be sure, he played Kwak Junho’s video material again because there might be a point he might have missed. Suddenly, something Kwak said came to mind.

Even the raw material supplied in the domestic market is eligible for the refund.

Hyunwoo’s eyes opened suddenly.

What? I was wrong to think only raw material imports were eligible for the refund.

In the video material, there were some who asked the same question.

“Do you that mean even if the raw materials aren’t imports, they are still eligible for the refund?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Obtain a tax submission certificate on basic raw materials. It’s part of the regular simplified refund.”

Plainly speaking, it was a regulation that recognizes the material as some sort of export if the material was supplied to the exporting company. For example, if company B supplied raw materials to Aurem for its production of export items, the certificate was something designed to turn over the right to the refund included in the taxable amount to Aurum, and the simplified refund could be applied.

Hyunwoo launched Excel quickly and began searching the domestic material used for Aurum’s exports. The highest refund portion was iron frame. After googling the classification of the item, the iron frame was a part of the chair. The refund ratio for this was 50 won per 10,000 won.

Hyunwoo’s eyes became larger and larger. Everytime he filled out the parts one by one, his heart began pounding loudly.

In the office, he identified the list of the raw materials used in export products, and he then went back home and compiled the calculation statement on the estimated refund.

The most difficult part of his work was to find the right HS code. Though he felt that he had found the correct code and calculated it accordingly, he wasn’t sure if it was correct.

After working for one week to produce the estimated refund statement, he completed it finally. Of course, it was a draft full of errors.

Early in the next morning.

“How are you, sir”

Hyunwoo greeted with his head down.

The old guard greeted him with a kind and generous smile, saying

“Huhhhh.. You are such an industrious guy. Don’t you sleep at all?”

“Please help yourself to this drink.”

He took out a soybean milk container from the drink box.

“What’s this this time?”

“I think I disturb your morning sleep like this. So, I’ve purchased one for you to express my apologies.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard that old people wake up early. Anyway, thanks for the drink.”

Hyunwoo headed to the office and looked at his watch.

It was 6:30 am sharp even today. Since he got hired, he had reported to work at 6:30 sharp all the time.

He knew exactly what he was supposed to do in the office. He usually chatted with the cleaning women and could easily find out how the company was operating.

The old guard nodded his head with a satisfactory expression on his face and said,

“They should recognize his sincerity more than anything else.”

When he arrived at the office, he started off by cleaning it. However, he didn’t touch the floor, which the cleaning women were supposed to clean. Instead, he cleaned the dirt on the computers and telephone sets, etc. He also cleaned the coffee stains on the water purifier, the cups, and teaspoons his colleagues used every day. It took him 30 minutes to clean them all.

Soon, the cleaning women came into the office.

“Our young guy arrived already!”

As if he was waiting for them, Hyunwoo offered them soybean milk.

“How are you? Please drink this”

“Oh, you make us feel sorry. Anyway, thanks for the drink.”

They were very talkative, as he expected. It took them just ten minutes to clean the office floor, but they were talking the entire time.

After they went out of the office, his colleagues started reporting to work one by one.

During the snack time in the afternoon, he headed to the customs office.

“Oh, you’re back again,” Kwak said. However, he didn’t greet him as gladly as he did before.

As part of his duty, Kwak collected the refund Hyunwoo had claimed before, so it was sort of uncomfortable for him to deal with Hyunwoo.

Instead, Hyunwoo offered brand breads with a bright smile and said, “Please help yourself to this bread.”

Surprised, Kwak declined. It seemed as if he couldn’t collect the refund if he took the bread from him.

“No thanks. I’m alright.”

Hyunwoo offered the bread again, saying, “Are you declining because of the refund collection? Never mind. I already reported to the president, and we’re preparing it now. Within two months, we’ll file the necessary declaration.”

“Oh, really?” Kwak said.

“Please take this bread first. Actually, I stopped by today to learn something from you. I would feel comfortable if you took this.”

“Hahaha.. If you insist.”

Only then did Kwak accept the bread gift. Because it was small, neither Hyunwoo nor Kwan felt burdensome because of it.

Kwak said, making some excuse for the refund collection,

“I didn’t know things went wrong this way. We thought that Aurum was just a small and medium-sized company. There is no way for us to find it out unless we get the relevant information from the Small and Medium Business Administration.”

“I guess so. Our president realized that Aurum was outside the category of small and medium-sized companies because of this.”

Hyunwoo now took sides with Kwak. A little relieved, Kwak also brightly smiled.

“Oh, I see. By the way, what brought you here?”

“I watched your explanation in the video material. I noticed something about a certificate on raw material supply. Our company can obtain the certificate from the suppliers for our exports, right?”

“Of course. Do the suppliers want to issue such a certificate?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to them yet. As a matter of fact, the classification of the export items is too difficult. As you know, the amount of the refund changes if the classification is wrong, right?”

“You’re right. You must have done a lot of research up to now!”

Hyunwoo scratched his head, and he presented the statement on the estimated calculation of the refund.

“Because this is the first time I’ve compiled it, I think that there are a lot of errors. Can you tell me what I should correct?”

Kwak helped Hyunwoo actively. Though the pizza and bread Hyunwoo brought to him were helpful, Kwak wanted to help him out because he felt sorry for him.

Hyunwoo corrected his statement with Kwak’s help, and Kwak also help him sort out the classification.

Hyunwoo felt as if he had witnessed a new epoch. If he made good use of the certificate on raw material supply, he could not only make up for the refund loss but also claim an additional refund.

He couldn’t keep this good information to himself. Because he got help from Jang Dukwoo all the time, it was about time he taught him a lesson.

He called Jang about this.

“The certificate on raw material supply? I don’t know”

“Well, in short, it is…”

Jang immediately got the point.

“Oh, I didn’t know there was such a certificate. Well, then my company could use it for a larger refund.”

Hyunwoo could feel the excitement from Jang’s voice, which made him happy too.

I hope that I get a bigger refund this time.

Hyunwoo continued to compile the estimated refund statement, and he finally completed it by linking the exports and the certificates.

Hyunwo recalculated the individual refund.

Confirming the outcome, Hyunwoo opened his mouth wide.

“Wow! 56 million won!”

It was a number beyond his expectations. He initially wanted to make up for the refund collection, but it was twice the amount now.

About the same time, Jang Dukwoo, too, completed the additional refund amount by using the certificate on raw material supply. Late in the evening, he called Hyunwoo and said,

“Thanks to you, sir, I got unexpected money!”

“How much is it?”

“Oh, very much. The additional refund amount based on the certificate is over 20 million per year!”

Jang made a fuss about it, boasting that his father, who was also the president of his company, would praise him.

However, Hyunwoo was a bit puzzled because he had expected the additional refund to be much bigger because Jang’s company was bigger than Aurum. Upon second thought, he felt that Jang was right. Though Aurm was heavily dependent on domestic raw material, Jang’s company relied on the import of raw material, so there weren’t many certificates to make use of.

“If you come across good information like this, please let me know, sir,” Jang said.

“Of course.”

After he hung up the phone, Hyunwoo reviewed the estimated refund calculation and the formula once again. However, there was no error. The exact refund amount was a bit over 56 million won. Hyunwoo clenched his fist and said, “Great! I did it!”

“56 million won?”

The team manager opened his eyes with surprise, and he then cast a suspicious look this time.

“Are you 100% certain this time?”

“I’ve actually had it verified by the customs officer. There is one condition, though.”

“What is it?”

“We have to obtain the certificates from the raw material suppliers. Without them, we have no refund.”

“What is that certificate?”

In the meantime, the team members, including Yonggu, were stunned by the amount, but at the same time, they were half in doubt because of the previous bitter episode.

Hyunwoo explained the certificate to them in detail.

The more Hyunwoo explained, the bright and more hopeful the team manager and Yonggu seemed. They felt it was certain this time.

The team manager slapped his lap and said,

“Great! File a report.”

The following day, the team manager and Yonggu went to see the president.

Of course, Hyunwoo accompanied them.

After he was briefed, the president opened his eyes in surprise and said,

“Did you find a way to make up for the refund loss?”