Govt appoints steering group to combat grey economy

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has appointed a steering group on combating the grey economy, said an official press release.

Chaired by the Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen, the purpose of appointing a steering group on combating the grey economy is to ensure the implementation of measures set out in the Government Programme and the preparation of other measures necessary to combat the grey economy and economic crime.

“Since the mid-1990s, the Finnish government has taken action, with varying degrees of determination, to combat the grey economy. The current Government Programme contains ambitious measures to tackle the grey economy; this is to ensure it will not disrupt fair competition,” said Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen.

The steering group’s tasks also include adopting a new strategy to combat the grey economy and economic crime, and an action plan for post-2020 implementation.

“Every effort is made to accelerate the introduction of a digital receipt. The adoption of automated financial administration systems in companies will not only combat the grey economy; the processing of real-time data will create huge business opportunities. Finland must claim its place in the vanguard of digitalisation,” Haatainen emphasized.

“Furthermore, it is important to intensify the monitoring of working conditions by making tax numbers compulsory in new sectors. Generally speaking, better conditions must be created for cooperation between authorities,” the Minister added.

The steering group will work in close cooperation with the executive group on combating the grey economy and economic crime appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, the network tackling undeclared work set up by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment reports on its work to the steering group.

The steering group will work in close cooperation and keep track of the work performed by other authorities, such as the Tax Administration and its Grey Economy Information Unit, and the anti-corruption cooperation network of the Ministry of Justice.

The steering group’s term has begun at the beginning of 2020 and will be ended when the term of the government ends.