Schwarzarbeit, also known as unreported work, is work done illegally without reporting it to the government, or “working under the table” or off the books, thereby avoiding taxes.

It is common in service areas such as electrical work, car repairs, tutoring, massage, beauty treatments, and household and garden maintenance in Austria.

The word is one of those “Lego” words (or combination words) common in the German language. It’s a combination of Schwarz, as in black, and Arbeit, which means word. It’s similar to the “black market” in English.

Unreported work generally accepted 

Unreported work is still at the top of the list of accepted “trivial offences” in Austria, according to a survey of 1,000 respondents commissioned by the Linz-based economist and work expert Friedrich Schneider, reported Die Presse.

About two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents think it is okay to have work done without declaring it. More than a third (37 per cent) also find nothing wrong with doing unreported work themselves.

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents state that many things only become affordable through unreported work. Every second person cites the high tax burden as the reason for choosing not to report their work.

Only 4 percent of the respondents think that unreported work should be reported, and 79 percent believe that the state is wasteful with taxpayers’ money.

Low rates by international standards

Schneider estimates that unreported work in Austria amounts to €34.5 billion this year, around 7.5 percent of the country’s total economic output.

Compared to other European countries, Austria has less undeclared work relative to its overall economy. Only the Netherlands and Luxembourg have similarly low levels.

In contrast, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia have much higher rates, and undeclared work accounts for about one-third of their official economic output.