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Recent study finds undeclared employment to reach 17%

26/05/2009 | News

"The group of workers most affected by undeclared employment can be rather accurately identified, which may be used in targeting efforts to combat tax fraud," said BI expert in an interview with Népszabadság.

Based on a comparison of labour force survey data and the administrative records of the Pension fund, a recent study estimates undeclared employment to be around 17% of total employment in 2005. This changed little between 2001 and 2005, and decreased somewhat in 2006 and 2007.  Undeclared employment is highest in Central Hungary, construction, personal services and among drivers.

Co-authored by BI expert Ágota Scharle, the study was published in Hungarian, with an English abstract. A detailed version will be available as No. 23 of the Working Papers in Public Finance.

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