September 2013
Featured in this insight: Construction, Financial services
Irish survey finds 64% of construction companies asked to do a job for cash: A new Construction Industry Federation (CIF) survey of the “black economy” found, that almost two thirds (64%) of construction companies have been asked to carry out work for an underhand payment, and that half (54%) have been approached by construction workers offering to carry out work for cash payments while continuing to receive social welfare.
The survey discovered that there is a considerable appetite for paying construction workers cash rather than complying with the taxation system, with over nine tenths (95%) of companies having come across a “black economy” operation in the last three months.
More than half of respondents also believe that these so called “black economy” operations have damaged their business by a fifth (20%); while more than two thirds (68%) have met clients who experienced problems with work carried out.
Half (53%) of construction companies believe that wages paid by the black economy are able to undercut legitimate firms by more than a fifth (20%).
CIF Director General Tom Parlon, said:
“There is a reason why black economy operators are able to undercut their rivals. They don’t make the correct tax returns, they have workers using social welfare payments as a subsidy to their wages, poor quality materials are used, corners are cut, the proper building practices are not followed and the proper health and safety standards are ignored."
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