April 15, Russian Style

In Russia, the government's been blitzing the airwaves with the message, "Pay your taxes."

It's educational television because until six years ago, Russians never had to file for income tax. In the old Soviet days, the government simply figured out how much it needed, took that out of everybody's wages, and gave the workers what was left over.

You didn't have to do your taxes. The government did it for you and did it to you, so to speak.

Now everybody's supposed to pay taxes, but no more than half of them do. Or, they plead poverty. Last year, the ex-Prime Minister and reputedly one of Russia's richest men, Victor Chernomyrdin, claimed he made only $8,000.

The result is that up to $100 billion in taxes has gone uncollected, and the Russian government is just this side of broke.

The government is cracking down. The truth it, though, that there are still millions of Russian tax deadbeats who'll get away with it, at least for a while.

Benjamin Franklin observed that nothing is certain but death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin never came to Russia. There, he'd be only half right.

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