Prior to their flat tax, they only had three tax rates, 12, 20, and 30 percent, as opposed to our six. And the majority of Russian taxpayers don’t fill out a bunch of forms. The 13% rate has exceeded expectations in terms of revenue. Real ruble revenue to the government has increased about 28%. And they don’t have to collect money at the point of a gun because the people are happy to pay up since it’s only 13%.
And in addition to that, Vladimir Putin has signed legislation to cut the Russian corporate tax from 53% to 24%. And, in Russia, they are very close to offering privately invested Social Security accounts. And, all of this has had a remarkable effect in reducing the impact of the black market. Who would have thought? I didn’t know any of this – it’s just excellent!