05.09.2022
WHICH BULGARIANS WORK MOST OFTEN FOR CASH, WITHOUT INSURANCE
Workers with lower education most often agree to pocket money, and employers who pay their employees wages "under the table" are micro, small and, less often, medium and large enterprises. This became clear during a round table on the topic "Salary in an envelope", organized by the National Revenue Agency.
The forum was attended by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, NSI, General Labor Inspectorate, researchers in behavioral economics - Dr. Jan Schmitz from Radboud University, Netherlands and Dr. Philip Dörenberg, Center for European economic research, Germany, the Association of Industrial Capital, representatives of employer and trade union organizations, accountants and experts.
All present at the roundtable agreed that the most effective approach to dealing with the risk of income evasion is to inform the public about the losses and negatives of undeclared work for all stakeholders, as well as the benefits of complying with the law.
The executive director of the Association of Industrial Capital, Dobrin Ivanov, listed more than 50 measures to limit and prevent undeclared employment. Among them are legislative changes, regular interdepartmental meetings to exchange good practices, training of inspectors from the National Revenue Agency and the General Labor Inspectorate, etc.
The Deputy Minister of Finance Alexander Svrakov expressed his expectation that if each of the representatives of the business, the administration, the trade unions share their opinion and make proposals, this will lead to a successful solution to the problem.
Inspectors from the National Revenue Agency and the General Labor Inspectorate have checked a total of 516 companies for the existence of employee employment contracts and compliance with tax and insurance legislation, it became clear during the round table. The employers visited by the inspectors were identified as risky after reports were filed against them and inspections by the control authorities due to suspicions that they employed workers without a contract. Often, in such enterprises, employees have signed a 4-hour work contract, but work 8 hours or are insured on minimum wage, but in reality they receive twice as much.
According to Ekaterina Asenova, executive director of the Main Labor Inspectorate, the salary in an envelope closes the future not only of the individual, but also of many important spheres and social systems and, accordingly, of our entire society.
"An employee who receives BGN 1,500, but his employer provides him with the minimum wage, in a long-term perspective will lose nearly BGN 109,000," said Antonia Ivanova, director of the Communications Directorate at the National Revenue Agency, demonstrating to the participants in the round table the possibilities of the loss calculator on the website: www.zaplatavplik.bg.
"Although the greatest loss of wages in an envelope is suffered by employees, this phenomenon also causes serious damage to employers. They can receive serious fines, penal interest, deprivation of the right to participate in public procurement, even if they bear criminal liability, while at the same time risking their image among partners, customers, suppliers", commented Kalin Atanasov, state expert in the Directorate "Risk Management".
