Eurosclerosis

The Swiss try to crack down on illegal working--which accounts for up to 10 percent of the country's GNP. "Illegal working" is working for which the government isn't getting its cut. Here's an example where attacking the root causes of the crime--taxes and regulations that are seen as overly burdonsome--might get better results, and even be more lucrative for the government to boot.

Comments

[Mark Fox]

Strange the mindset that sees a behaviour as illegal working rather than tax evasion. Strange to me, at least.

[KentInDC]

Mark Fox,
I may be wrong, but I don't think tax evasion is a crime in CH, but is a civil matter instead. Going after "illegal working" might be a way to get people to toe the line despite that obstacle. Maybe someone more knowledgeable of CH laws can enlighten us.

[kmw]

It?s the mindset that says, ?I am your overlord, you must ask permission before you think for yourself.?

Stories like this remind me how great it is to live in America, despite Ashcroft.

[Ironchef]

If I was forced to leave the US, my first choice would be Switzerland: neutral, smart, efficient, and heavily-armed. Wasn't it the Swiss enact a Regressive tax code in a few provices(cantons)?

Strange to hear about this from Switzerland.

[R C Dean]

Whatcha wanna bet it has something to do with EU tax harmonization?

[KentInDC]

R C Dean,
The Swiss overwhelmingly defeated a referendum on joining the EU in 2001, so joining the EU is not in CH's future.

I checked with a Swiss employee in my office and she said that tax evasion is definitely not a crime in CH, meaning they were probably looking for a bigger hammer to get people to pay.

[matt]

10% of GDP is nothing to sneeze at. Seems like cracking down on "illegal working" would hurt their economy. But I guess that's never stopped politicians before.

[thoreau]

Man, I'd always admired the Swiss political system. It still has some advantages over the US, but this is hardly a heartening development.

[James]

I've been thinking that this will become more and more of a "problem." I know a lot of people that work off the books, mostly because of regulations rather than taxes. Many small businesses pay cash rather than screw around with tax witholding and Social Security. Add to the regulatory burden a large number of undocumented workers and you have a employer/worker consensus to dodge the law...

One theory is that the all-encompassing state as we know it has overreached itself and the growing "underground" economy is evidence of a spontaneous, uncoordinated, but unstoppable backlash against it.

The government relies on voluntary cooperation to sustain itself. It cannot survive in the face of mass disobedience. One need only look at the Drug War to see what happens when a significant minority refuses to obey.

As in all things, there are historical precedents to mass tax-evasion, and it usually presages the collapse of the existing state and the rise of a different one, often very different. There is nothing new under the sun.

[Gadfly]

Business just hates it when they run up against business principles.

You're time, energy and know-how is worth money, folks. If you want to volunteer it, know that you erode its value. If you have a government that reminds you of your value, you are blessed.

The only difference between a whore and a prostitute is that the whore gives it away.

[thoreau]

Gadfly-

I sometimes sympathize with your posts, but I have absolutely no clue what you were trying to say there. I can't agree or disagree with you until I know what you were actually trying to say.

[Mark Fox]

Gary: The language of working "off the books" in the US preserves a value in doing labor. "Illegal working" implies that the work itself is wrong, or that a worker is applying efforts to a wrong endeavour.

On this point the subtleties of language and culture fascinate me. That people choose to avoid regulation/tax is no surprise in any culture.

[Gary Gunnels]

R.C. Dean,

Switzerland is not in the EU, nor is it likely that Switzerland will be in the EU any time in the immediate future.

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Brian Doherty,

There is also a lot of "illegal working" in the U.S. (for example, hundreds if not thousands of people in southern Mobile County, Alabama work off the books); the Swiss version of the IRS may simply be more robust in its enforcement efforts.