Repost: Yeltsin tells Russians to pay taxes
ÿ United Press International - June 05, 1998 10:27
ÿÿÿ MOSCOW, June 5 (UPI) - Russian President Boris Yeltsin took to the airwaves to tell his countrymen to pay their taxes or face the consequences.
ÿÿÿ Explaining last week's stock market crash in Russia, which was
caused in large part by the state's failure to collect taxes and increase revenues, Yeltsin warned his citizens the government would start cracking down on tax dodgers.
ÿÿÿ Yeltsin said failure to pay taxes is affecting everyone, and
criminal charges will be filed against well-known tax cheats as a deterrent to others.
ÿÿÿ Yeltsin said: ''Russia's financial crisis is threatening to destabilize the ruble, which would lead to higher prices and a higher cost of living.''
ÿÿÿ He said: ''We cannot allow this to happen, we must learn to live according to our means.''
ÿÿÿ Yeltsin admitted to the nation ''we have ourselves to blame for he
crisis,'' adding that tax receipts have to rise to cut the budget deficit.
ÿÿÿ He said: ''The government exists on the money paid by taxpayers, and has a right to expect citizens to act responsibly and pay their taxes.
ÿÿÿ Yeltsin said failure to act quickly will lead to the return of Soviet-style ration coupons and shortages for basic items.
ÿÿÿ He said: ''We are fed up with this system,'' urging ordinary
Russians to pay up and help the state in its hour of need.
ÿÿÿ Russia's new tax chief Boris Fyodorov (''FYOH-dah-rawf'') says a
list of 1,000 wealthiest Russians is being drawn up and they will be
monitored closely by the tax authorities.
ÿÿÿ Fyodorov told the Kommersant newspaper today: ''Famous people
should set an example for ordinary citizens,'' indicating a crackdown on show-business personalities and possible show trials of bankers avoiding taxes were imminent.
ÿÿÿ Russian tax inspectors say just over 4 million tax returns were
filed this year, out of a population of almost 150 million.
ÿÿÿ Russia has no culture of paying taxes to the state, and the tax
police expects the crackdown will have a limited effect, with a figure of 20 million tax-payers mentioned as the target for the end of this year.
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ÿÿÿ Copyright 1998 by United Press International.
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