johnnyone

Some common sense is coming into this.

The only thing I would say is that,yes there is a large amount of fraud,whether that be people hiding their money etc. and that should be stopped.

However what about people who evade tax by doing cash jobs, fiddling their tax returns etc. It seems to me that is far more serious and that should also be stopped.

whitelinen

As you are talking about the UK I suggest you ask that question on a Polish forum.

scampicat

Thank goodness for that!

johnnyone

That is not worthy of a meaningful response.

cricketman

Expecially since that is what a lot of the Brits who work in this part of Spain do exactly the same.

There is an English gardeners down here who drive around in a branded company van who will not issue invoices because they are 100% illegal. They will only work cash in hand.

scampicat

Whilst not condoning in any way illegality or fraud, do you know how many hoops you have to jump through to legally run a business in Spain? If it was easier maybe more people would be legal.

cricketman

Yes, my OH has one

It's not that difficult to set up and administer, although it helps a great deal if you are fluent in the language!

I cant imagine being able to run a business in Spain without being being fluent in Spanish, it would be a nightmare! But that is no excuse for doing everything illegally, either learn Spanish or hire an administrator.

scampicat

No, of course it is no excuse, I was not saying it was, but I just think there would be less fraud if there wasn't so much red tape.

Oh well this is Spain, where would they be without the needless bureaucracy?

jimenato

I have a very nice and good asesor/gestor who helps me run my business - I wouldn't be able to do it without her. The thing that makes most people opt to be illegal here is the sheer cost.

Dick Dasterdly

Of course the Spanish ppl would never dream of working illegally for black money.

Would be interesting to know what the true figures really are.
Maybe it would make all the rest seem like just a drop in the ocean ?

HBG

I had yet another Spanish tradesman round yesterday, a very efficient chap. After he finished the job he asked me how I wanted to pay – with a recibo, or for 25% off without one.

It’s a silly question, so I chose the sensible option. Because he had done such an excellent job at a reasonable price, I gave him a decent tip as well.

As he walked away expressing his gratitude, I asked him for a recibo for the tip, with as much sternness as I could muster. My wife gave the game away when she started laughing, bit it took him a little while to join in.

bil

That's pretty damn funny......

angiescarr

Depends on what we feel would make us happy &, for example if we stop paying for leisure activities we feel we need because we don't have enough time to enjoy life/keep fit etc. Don't forget that we spend around 10 of our 40 hours working for the tax man, so he can pay, amongst other things for unemployment! It would take a sea change in attitudes. Most people can't see the wood for the trees when it comes to working hours.

cricketman

I knew someone would say that

When I spent most of my time in Catalunya and Asturias I thought the British people were exagerating when they said everything in Spain was done on the black. It certainly isnt up there, in fact one of the nationalist arguments for Catalunya is that they want to stop subsidising Andalucia where everything is done on the black, which means Andalucia are not contributing their share of the taxes.

When we came to Andalucia, it seemed you could pay everyone officially or unofficially (except if a large company is involved). We still mainly pay legally because many things we want an invoice for, for tax reasons. But at least you do have the choice to do things legally.

It seems many British tradesman and workers are illegal through and through -and the reason I posted in the first place is just to say that the language is not an excuse, nor is ignorance or beurocracy. Before people move to Spain they know that the language of Spain is Spanish so they should get on with it!

cricketman

You're assuming that people can CHOOSE to work only 30 hours a week. Even if they wanted to, very few employers would agree to that except for very unskilled jobs and shift work.