Their predicament may have evoked international sympathy, but the
plight of the hostages held inside the Japanese ambassador's residence
in Lima for 105 days apparently holds little sway with the tax man.
The Peruvian tax office said the roughly 50 hostages who are Peruvian
citizens will have a month after their release, whenever that is,
to pay their 1996 income taxes.
Peruvians must file their 1996 returns by April 2, but people inside the
besieged residence need "a period that allows them to comply with the
filing of their annual tax statements", the statement said.
