MOSCOW, December 14 - RAPSI, Dmitry Shchitov. A commercial court will hear on January 25 an application filed by the Russian Authors Society to reverse the tax inspectorate's decision to collect $17.6 in tax arrears, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the courtroom.

According to earlier court information, a Federal Tax Service inspectorate ordered the claimant to pay 560.102 million rubles ($17.7 million) to the budget as arrears in VAT, income tax and tax on foreign entity's proceeds from a Russian source, plus penalty interest and fines.

Upon the society's request, the court suspended the tax authority's decision until a judgment on the subject in dispute comes into force.

The society was established in 1993 on the basis of the liquidated Russian Agency for Intellectual Property to manage the "property rights of authors on a collective basis."