I listened to radio 4 this morning, there was a greek doctor talking about how corrupt there country is, he said he has friends who earn 700.000 a year and pay little or even no tax. his accountant told him he could avoid tax buy putting 10.000 euros in a envelope and giving it to him.
I wonder if spain is heading the same way.

You're joking of course - it's been that way for ages!

that's what I thought - that 'they' were trying to stamp it out

I imagine the recession will bring it back big time

It's not quite that bad in Spain. I have a friend who is a tax lawyer in the North. She was quite adament that tax avoidance is difficult in Spain. When I said that the Brits in the Costas dont think that then she was genuinely shocked.

We've discussed this before, I think while low paid jobs may be paid cash in hand, people aspire to be legal as it comes with benefits such as healthcare. And as we've seen the tax rules for autonomos and billing is complicated. If you work with big companies there is no way you can get past not paying taxes.

The biggest problem with corruption in Spain concerns corrupt mayors. A notorious minority give all the ayuntamiento contracts to their mates for back handers and give permission for building houses for large wads of cash.

I would imagine the amount of black money in Greece, Spain, Germany and the UK is about the same.

I remember the government rescue of Northern Rock, who had billions in black money in Jersey.

We should concentrate on the big boys and ignore the plumber having a few grand under the mattress. I remember handing over some black money to the seller when I bought my house, and I jokingly asked him whether he was putting it in the bank. He was laughing so much he had to stop counting.

i have for one once been told about when completion of a house in spain was going through was asked for what they called black money to avoid some charges and i know this to be true and saved a lot of money as well but it has to be cash mmmmmmmmmm not easy to do taking thousands with you on a trip out either

Where I live everyone is on black money because there are no employers here or even nearby and being self employed means paying your contribution each month (some 200 euros) even if you have no work.
There is no alternative if you want to live.

i think its the same the whole world over if you can make enough why should you pay it out to someone thats not going to help when you have no income

Remember there is no benefits system here (as such) as there is in other countries.
You certainly don't have the luxury of lounging around on benefits here as you do in the UK.

myself i could not say that as the benefits people make it hard to do that, it would seem that the best way to get benefits is to not be british , ie just new into uk and go to jobcentre and get a cheque cannot understand the lingo and shrug shoulders, i for one was in hospital for 3 months in all one month in intensive care and another in hospital ward and another month at another place learning to walk again as intensive care i had muscle wastage, i have struggled to get any money from a system i have paid into for over 30 years,
what a load of b**locks

Spain´s black economy at a tad under 24% of GDP is actually bigger than Greece entire enconomy. They´re just amateurs down there.

I love the way that the UK government says we are benefit thieves if we pocket a few quid on the black or have a fiddle going.

That'll mean the UK is a country run by benefit thieves.

Why, in any country should the man in the street be punished for what the great and the good do so freely?

I also heard that, and they also said that Greece has about the same number of civil servants as UK, but about a fith of the population! No wonder that are in a mess.

Something wrong with your story, are you saying you got no money? Because if you are, something in your story isn't right. I have a friend in UK that has MD, and wants for absolutely nothing, from extension to the house to fit wet room, even with a toilet that washes and dries your bum! He's had laptops, stair lifts, a cleaner, mobility etc Don't get me wrong, he deserves everything he gets, but something here doesn't ring true.
PS. He's a 100% scouser, not an inmigrant.

Not sure how that works out, there are millions that are in jobs where it's impossible to do work on the black. I for one, have never had a job where I could work on the black. It's possible for self employed, but they are not the majority.