Character Expenses

Just as each individual Character is responsible for his own income, in Vendetta each named Character is also responsible for his own expenses. This can take many forms, the most common of which are as follows:

Regular Expenses

Racket Supplies

Many illegal rackets require some form of supplies, usually available from the operator of a different racket. As a general rule these would usually be paid for in advance of supplies being received (especially in the case of booze supplies) but sometimes payment is made as 'cash on delivery' (as in the case of drug deals). Payment is never owing - if a Character cannot pay in advance or on delivery (as applicable to that racket) then he will simply not be supplied. This is the case even between two Characters of the same Syndicate or Family so if one of your Characters is short of cash for supplies then your only real option is for your Boss Character to loan him the money before he needs it. This is most likely to occur when a racket is newly-assigned to a Character, but he might also suddenly find himself short of funds for all manner of reasons.

Salaries

Some racket operators will be able to employ 'civilians' to help them operate their businesses more efficiently, which they will do automatically. These will not be named Characters in the game nor can you give orders directly to these people, but each week they will need to be paid. Salary costs for these employees would usually be drawn from the racket in which they are involved, and be included in the weekly 'running costs' for this business, but on rare occasions it's possible that income will not cover expenses and the Character operating this racket will need to find funds from elsewhere to be sure of keeping his staff. Unless he also operates other, more profitable businesses, the most likely source of such funding would be a loan from your Boss Character. As with racket supplies (above), this is most likely to occur for a racket not yet properly established, but it might also occur due to the actions of rivals or police harming racket income.

Guards & Premise Guards

All Guards drawn from the pool by a particular Character will need to be paid by that Character each week. The cost of all Guards is totalled for each Character and paid after all income is collected, so usually there would be ample funds available. If not, a Boss loan would be necessary. Note that in times of financial crises the quickest way to reduce your weekly costs is to transfer all surplus guards back to the gang 'pool'. Guards in the pool are inactive (ie. not assigned any current duty) so are paid only half their normal salary as a retainer, to keep them from seeking employment elsewhere. If the financial crises worsens, Guards in the pool may be fired by the Boss.

Police Pay-Off

As with his other expenses, each Character is also responsible for paying his own pay-off to the local police precinct. This would usually be collected on a weekly basis by a 'precinct bagman', with a cost for each racket based on exactly what it involves. The cheapest (in police pay-off) rackets to operate are generally the 'harmless' ones such as booze in one form or another. The most expensive rackets will be those preying on the innocent, and those causing a greater degree of 'associated crime' in the local area. (Associated crimes are crimes caused by customers of a racket, such as the clients of drug pushers and loansharks often needing to raise cash fast.) Naturally the profitability of the racket will also be an important factor, so the most valuable rackets will also cost more in pay-off to remain safe from local police raids.

Building Rents

Operating illegal rackets within premises leased for this purpose will also incur weekly rent, usually as a percentage of that racket's income - roughly 15%. In essence, when renting premises the Character operating the racket takes on the building's owner as a silent partner in the racket, ensuring his silence. The building's owner might be another named underworld Character (such as your Boss Character, perhaps) or it might be an unidentified civilian willing to make money by associating with gangsters. For obvious reasons it is more profitable to actually buy any building or legitimate business from which you wish to operate a racket, rather than rent it and share your racket profits, but the cost of doing so in advance does not always make this a viable option.

"Friends in High Places"

This is the term used to describe a regular weekly payment to another Character in the game with the exception of the Tribute (see below) paid to this Character's immediate Boss. Friends in High Places might include the likes of corrupt politicians, cops, prosecutors and judges. These regular payments are the means by which Influence gained over these characters is maintained, without which any influence dwindles away to nothing.

Taxes

All Characters pay government taxes on income drawn from legitimate businesses, and on illegal money 'laundered' through legitimate businesses. This 'clean money' is treated separately to any Character's illegal income, in that it is recorded separately throughout his accounts. Clean money is never used to pay the expenses of illegal rackets, or of any ordinary criminal expenses for that matter, as it is too valuable when used for other, legitimate purposes such as buying new property.

Net Profit

Once a named Character has collected all of his weekly income and has paid all of the regular expenses & running costs as listed above, the cash figure remaining is what is referred to as his 'Net Profit' figure. This figure is split three ways:

Personal Account

30% of a Character's Net Profit is deemed to be his own income and is placed in his Personal Account (ie. he pockets it). Some of this might be 'clean' (legitimate) money, but will over time be recorded as a percentage of his Personal Account rather than as an exact, and separate, figure. See the separate page within this section entitled 'Personal Account'.

Tribute

30% of a Character's Gross Profit is handed over to his own immediate superior, the one ranked above him in the Organization hierarchy. Tribute is always paid on the following week, in cash from illegal sources, unless this Character earns no illegal income or has already spent all illegal income on expenses & running costs. Note that the tribute one Player-Boss pays another will vary between 10% and 50%, as dictated by the Head of his Syndicate or Family. For more information see the page within this section entitled 'Tribute'.

Business Account

The remaining 40% of Gross Profit is placed in the Character's own Business Account, which is used for any emergency expenses and one-off purchases, for repaying any Boss Loan owed, and for funding future new rackets & businesses. This will only ever contain money from illegal sources. Any 'Clean' money available for expansion will instead be stored in this Character's 'Bank Account' (literally, banked with a city bank, in an account of his own name), where it is usually saved up from week to week for the express purpose of buying legitimate businesses & property in future. Note: Keeping a Character's illegal income separate from legal income serves an important purpose in the game. See the pages within this section on 'Bank Account', 'Money Laundering' and 'Investment' for a full explanation.