High Taxes, Regulations Drive Spain's Underground Economy to 20 Percent of GDP

Spain's illicit economy—all that is unaccounted for because it's illegal or unreported—is worth an unseemly 20% of the country's GDP, according to a new report by Spain's Foundation for Financial Studies (FEF). That's higher than every other country in the European Union except Italy, with 21%….

Among the report's many suggestions for chipping away at the country's informal economy is lowering Spain's high personal and company tax rates, which discourage official activity. It also advocates the creation of "mini-jobs," which employ workers for up to 40 hours a week for up to $520 a month and are meant to incentivize those working in Spain's underground economy to gradually shift into its official one.

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