President Boris Yeltsin is locked in an ongoing battle with the Communist-dominated State Duma, over the social spending cuts to put federal finances in order because revenue projections were overly optimistic in the original 1997 budget. His Tax Police, however, have, for the first time, decided to spread their net over about 50 superstars suspected of hiding their income and avoiding tax payments. According to the new `show business group' of the Tax Police, especially created to investigate the income of top pop-artists, big name stars are notorious for not paying their taxes - a situation the cash-strapped Russian Government has vowed to rectify. ``Those who submit their tax declarations can be counted on the fingers,'' said Vyacheslav Yanchenko, chief of the Tax Police. The Tax Police suspect there is a lot of untaxed income in Russia's extremely lucrative showbiz world, he pointed out, although the record has slightly improved recently. Currently, several big name artistes, among them, super-singers Iosif Kobzon, Fillip Kirkorov, Alla Pugachyova, Igor Nikolayev and Natasha Korolyova, are reportedly under investigation. Recently, Kirkorov, 30, was called by the Tax Police, as his declared annual income turned out to be a paltry $2,075. In a newspaper interview he said that tax laws don't correspond to the realities of the show business, especially with regard to the high expenses it involves. ``Practically everything we earn is reinvested in providing people with an entertaining show,'' said Kirkorov. ``In Russia, it sounds like a myth that artistes are millionaires.'' But the Tax Police are not convinced by these arguments, especially since Kirkorov recently presented his wife, Pugachyova, a white Lincoln stretch limousine during her televised 48th birthday bash. Moreover, he flies in his own jet that bears a 2-metre likeness of his smiling face. Kirkorov's career really took off in the past three years after he married Pugachyova, the indisputable prima donna of Russian crooners since her sudden rise to fame in 1975 with the catchy song `Harlequin'. One of the three richest Russian pop stars, along with Lyudmila Zykina and Kobzon, Pugachyova has added a new venture to her existing commercial interests, the Alla Pugachyova Musical Theatre, the Alla Perfume Line and Alla magazine and created a new line of Alla Shoes. In view of the superstars' commercial ventures, the Tax Police face a difficult task in zeroing in on those suspected of tax-evasion. The most frequently concealed show business earnings come from concerts, they say. Organisers are notoriously difficult to pin down, and their companies often dissolve after just one show. It is also difficult to check up on proceeds from nightclub and casino performances because payments are often made in cash and without written agreements. Meanwhile, the Duma is considering a bill in the near future, aimed at banning the wide-spread practice of lip-synching, driving a one-fourth of Russia's pop stars off the stage, according to its sponsor Mikhail Men, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Cultural Committee.
