Punished for Yesterday's Loopholes

Business should get used to paying taxes, obeying the law and not finding ways to avoid taxation -- this was the key message President Vladimir Putin delivered to CEOs of Russia's corporations in November at the annual meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. It is a statement few will object to and a piece of advice all taxpayers would do well to follow. But given today's business environment in Russia, it also implies that companies seeking legitimate means to reduce their taxes are in some way breaking the law. If that were the case, business executives would fill the world's jails.