| tax 2003-02-19 |
| Following last month's announcement that Russia's tax police have compiled a list of taxpayers who are felt to justify pre-emptive action in order to prevent them from evading taxes in the future, a new, similarly Orwellian power has been unveiled.
Reporting on Tuesday, The St Petersburg Times revealed that: 'Under new instruction No. 426, a copy of which was obtained by The St Petersburg Times, those suspected of committing tax crimes or deemed to be intending to commit them can be asked to undergo 'questioning in the form of special psychological analysis'.' Although suspected tax evaders must give written permission for the lie detector test to take place, refusal to submit to the procedure would likely be viewed dimly by the tax police, and could result in the imposition of other 'preventative measures'. |