ROUGHLY one-sixth of Slovaks admitted that they acquired goods or services that had something to do with undeclared work last year, following the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey, as reported by the TASR newswire.
According to the poll, this was the eighth-worst result among the whole of European Union, where the average amounted to some 11 percent of the respondents. The worst situation was found in Greece, the Netherlands and Lithuania, where 30 percent, 29 percent, and 28 percent of the respondents, respectively, admitted to paying for goods and services involving undeclared work in 2013. The best results were recorded in Poland (5 percent), Germany (7 percent), the United Kingdom (8 percent) and Spain (8 percent).
People in Slovakia tend to purchase undeclared services and goods mainly when it comes to repairs and renovations of their homes (53 percent) and car repairs (39 percent). With respect to the average cost for the undeclared goods and services purchased most frequently in Slovakia, this amounted to €5 per hour, compared to the EU average of €11 per hour, according to TASR.
The most popular sources of such goods and services in Slovakia were friends, colleagues, and acquaintances (55 percent), other private persons and households (40 percent), relatives (21 percent), neighbours (18 percent), firms and businesses (17 percent) and health-care providers (9 percent).
Some 5 percent of the Slovak respondents admitted that they had carried out undeclared paid activities in the past 12 months, which was only 1 percentage point higher than the EU average. Meanwhile, 36 percent of the respondents in Slovakia stated that they know someone who works without declaring their income or part of it to the tax or social security authorities. The average for the whole of EU was 32 percent. The highest proportion of respondents in this bracket were in Denmark (59 percent), the Netherlands (55 percent), and in Greece (54 percent). The lowest were in Ireland (25 percent), Malta (20 percent), Romania (20 percent) and in the United Kingdom (15 percent).
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
