Many Finns Admit to Doing Illegal Work
One in four Finns would be ready to circumvent taxes by doing work off the books, according to a new study. A quarter of those surveyed admitted that in fact, they have already done so.
The poll was commissioned by the newspaper Aamulehti and conducted by the financial pollster Taloustutkimus.
Young people and those in lower income brackets were the most ready to participate in a little black-market work.
In addition, people who live in Lapland were considerably more open to the idea than residents of other provinces. This may be because the region has a great need of seasonal and temporary workers for its tourism industry.
Markku Hirvonen, a Finance Ministry expert on shady bookkeeping, says that the IT and stock market trading sectors present a particular challenge, because people are more adept at covering their tracks.