Prevent undeclared work

You can affect general attitudes with your own example. With the help of the information on this website, companies and individuals can more easily recognise what the shadow economy is and identify economic crimes. This website contains tips and examples of how you can act to protect yourself and the society against the harms caused by the shadow economy and economic crime.

Undeclared work is an international phenomenon In the most serious cases, the use of undeclared workers may involve extortionate work discrimination, forced labour and trafficking in human beings when the work is carried out in unlawful conditions.

Private individuals

Do not compromise on your rights. Only work with a tax card and always insist on a written employment agreement and pay slip. Make sure that your wages are paid to your bank account.
Check your pay slips regularly and check your pension record annually. Know whether you are in an employment relationship or treated as a self-employed person.
Request a receipt for all purchases. When you purchase household and renovation services, check that the company providing the service is listed in the prepayment register and the VAT register (www.ytj.fi/en/ [.ﬁ]›).

Businesses

See to entrepreneurs’ obligations related to taxes, pension insurance and accident insurance, and report your employees’ wages to the Income Register.
Establish what your business partners’ backgrounds are like. Signs of the use of undeclared labour can include the extensive use of external services or the company’s representative having inadequate expertise related to the product or its marketing.
Pay attention to payment arrangements. You should request additional clarification if payment is made to a third party and/or a third country, if payment is requested to be divided between multiple accounts, or if a business partner requires cash payment. You should also assess whether the terms of the business transaction are sensible: do the payment periods or terms of the business transaction deviate from normal industry practices?

Prevent

VAT fraud

You may unintentionally participate in fraudulent trading, where someone in the trading chain attempts to avoid value added tax. Companies are always obliged to check whether their business partners can be trusted.

Report

virtual currencies

While the use of virtual currencies in itself is not a crime, they do not have an official status parallel to that of money. The appreciation of a virtual currency is realised when it is sold or used and, under such circumstances, the appreciation is subject to capital taxation.

Beware of

identity fraud

Identity fraud – i.e. the unlawful use of another person’s name or personal data – was criminalised in September 2015. Identity thefts are typically related to frauds in which the personal data of another person is used to purchase products, to take out a loan or to establish customer or bank accounts.

Combat

corruption

Corruption is the misuse of authority for personal benefit. Corruption has serious consequences for society as well as at the individual level because it slows down economic development, increases economic inequality and environmental destruction and weakens democracy.