Posted on 11/23/2011 7:26:46 AM PST by decimon
NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) - In the busy Naples square where she works, 18-year-old Arianna is a familiar sight as she darts back and forth from a cafe bearing trays with espresso and pastries.
With a bright blue apron, lip stud and cheerful smile, she is known to all except the Italian taxman -- for whom the Neapolitan waitress has never existed and probably never will.
Paid 100 euros a week in cash, the high school dropout is one of hundreds of thousands toiling away in a parallel Italian economy where cash is king, contracts or receipts do not exist and the taxman is cut out of the equation altogether.
"Here in Naples, you've got to accept what you get," she said, recalling her start as an irregular worker in a bag factory where she was paid just 50 euros a week.
"They know you're young and need work, so they offer to pay you off the books without any benefits. I'm used to it by now. I don't really hope to ever get a job with a contract."
>
Sitting outside a cafe along one of the city's many narrow streets, 32-year-old Ivan, who like others interviewed for this article asked that his family name not be used, recounts how his entire 11-year career as a plumber has been off the books. Officially, he's unemployed.
Doing it that way was a no-brainer: getting a work license, giving up nearly half his take in taxes and keeping up with the mass of paperwork and bureaucracy required to stay legal would leave him with virtually nothing, he says.
>
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Coming soon to a business near you.
If the Cretin-in-Chief’s taxes kick in...just wait.
Ping.
The future of the USA
EU wants more control of states' budgets
....and democracy is not included.
The employers have no incentive. All of these off the books workers were referring to being unable to get a contract. Well, once they have a contract, they cannot be fired. If they do get fired, they usually sue, and the worker wins 99% of the cases.
I agree that the underground economy will increase in the US if we increase taxes and regulation. I think that a chart showing the underground economy in the the freest to the most controlled economies would show a direct relationship between increased control and increased cheating.
I’ve re-named the Cretin-In-Chief’s wife to Creature From The Black Lagoon since Wookie isn’t allowed anymore.
Italy is more Scoialist than anything. Due to recent changes (2008) the nuber of parites has decreased slightly - the the unserlying system is a nightmare.
Pary that it never get that bad here in the US...
I’m seriously surprised that she hasn’t been questioned by the Finance Police
__________________
How is this different from the IRS?
one article about this says their underground econmy is 250 million euro a year. If only they has a 10% tax rate during the past four years the 100 million would be a big help on their debt payments - but they want a much higher rate, so folks cheat.
I hear in Canada, if you ask a contractor to build you a deck, he will often quote you two prices - a cheaper price “off the books” and a more expensive price “one the books”.
Laws passed to artificially prop up the marginally employable almost ALWAYS seem to kick them in the ass.
If they hired her they would have to pay her benefits, couldn't ever fire her, and she would have to pay taxes on her income and forgo her welfare/dole payments. So she works off the system - and despairs of ever having a ‘real’ job.
In the USA full time employees have a ton of benefits mandated by law. So many marginally employable people have to commute between two or three “part time” jobs - because nobody will offer them full time work - because then they would have to pay the benefits mandated by law.
When will advocates of State power catch on that most people will ALWAYS do what is in their own economic best interest?
My very first job as a teenager, other than babysitting, was under the table as a hostess in a restaurant. The Waitresses split their tips with me and I made $1.79 an hour, tax and benefit free. To me, it was great money and I was glad to have the work.
Oh they know that. The issue is they're doing their damned level best to stamp that out. In the old USSR they simply killed you for it. That day isn't far off here anymore.
Well the “powers that be” may well be aware of this, but obviously not the rank and file ‘well meaning’ liberals who insist that doubling the minimum wage and mandating break times and full insurance for all full time employees will most certainly NOT harm those who the legislation was designed to help.
But they are wrong. Such legislation always harms the marginally employable when they try to “improve” working conditions and pay.
Thanks decimon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.