MAKING THE IRS LOOK GOOD

Russia's new national pastime -- tax evasion -- gets underway this month as millions of people try to decode the one of the world's newest yet most arcane tax systems. Moscow businesses face 51 different taxes, including a 41 percent social security tax, a 13 percent profit tax, a 63 percent tax on importing personal belongings and a levy on guard dogs. Worse, the average Russian worker earned just $1,112 in 1994 and will pay anywhere from 12 percent to 30 percent in income taxes -- if they bother.