It’s funny, isn’t it?

The Maltese have a characteristic of trying to hide everything from everybody else while keeping themselves as informed as they possibly can about what others are doing. It is part of our culture.

The Maltese also have a habit of admitting to nothing, and then blaming whatever it was on others. It is part of our way of life. The Maltese enjoy gossiping about other people, but when they are the ones on the receiving end they are deeply offended.

This came out in the open once again a few days ago when the results of a Eurobarometer survey were issued.

Just one per cent of the Maltese population admitted to having engaged in undeclared work during the past 12 months. Would you believe that this is the case? Would you believe that the other 99 per cent were telling the truth?

But then came the second question – do you know of people who work without declaring their income for tax purposes? In this case, it was 34 per cent who said yes!

It is funny, isn’t it?

Only one per cent of those interviewed admitted a wrongdoing, but then 34 per cent know of people who have committed that wrongdoing.

Let’s face it – the 34 per cent result is much closer to the truth, but then of course it is much easier to say that you know someone who did something wrong, than admit that you did wrong yourself. It is much simpler to point fingers at others, rather than admit to any wrongdoing, even if this admission does not lead to any repercussions.

Eurobarometer itself commented that the one per cent result is “surprising”. Coming from an organisation that does not normally give an opinion on the results of its findings, such a remark carries even more weight.

Perhaps the Eurobarometer survey should have included another question – can you name the people who you know have carried out work without declaring it. We are sure that very few, if any, of those 34 per cent would have chosen to mention names.

The funny side of it all stops here.

Other results of the survey give a clear indication as to why undeclared work – which is also commonly referred to as the black economy – is depriving the country of taxes which could be used for the country’s general benefit, or leading to the government spending much more money than it should in social benefits to people who should not be receiving such income.

Nearly 60 per cent of respondents believe that the risk of being caught is fairly, or very, small. In reply to another question as to what leads people not to declare income, 21 per cent blamed a lack of control by the authorities, while 16 per cent felt that sanctions against undeclared work were too weak to act as a deterrent.

These results should push the government into taking action to exercise better control over undeclared work. The easing of the tax bands as announced in the last budget is not enough to encourage people into declaring work that would have otherwise gone undeclared.

Otherwise, this money which ultimately belongs to the people – because every citizen is equal under the law, and every citizen should pay the taxes due – will continue to be “lost”.

The government should also take a cue from the people’s answers to increase the penalties for those who are caught abusing the system. In simple terms, it is not fair for the average citizen to pay right up to the last cent while knowing that there are others who are not pulling their weight.