Undeclared work notification

According to the Act to Combat Clandestine Employment of 23.07.2004, any person who performs work or has work performed and in doing so

1. as an employer, entrepreneur or self-employed person subject to compulsory insurance, withholds social security contributions by violating their reporting, contribution or record-keeping obligations,
2. evading or reducing taxes as a taxpayer,
3. as a recipient of social benefits (e.g. unemployment benefit, unemployment benefit 2, social assistance) fails to comply with his statutory reporting obligations to the social benefit provider, in particular by failing to report the commencement of employment,
4. as a tradesman, has not fulfilled his obligation to register his trade (§ 14 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act) or has not obtained the required traveling trade license (§ 55 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act),
5. operates a craft requiring a license as a self-employed person without being entered in the register of craftsmen (Section 1 of the Crafts Code).

Illegal employment offenses listed in Nos. 1-3 are investigated by the customs administration. If you have any questions, please contact your local main customs office. Further information can be obtained from the Financial Control of Clandestine Employment Department at the Cologne Regional Finance Directorate or on the Internet at the websites listed below.

Craft and trade law violations(no. 4 and 5) are prosecuted by the local authorities responsible for combating illegal employment. As a rule, these are the districts, independent cities and large independent towns. The employees of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport in the government agencies are responsible for coordinating the fight against undeclared work in the area of craft and trade law. You can also contact them via the e-mail address Schwarzarbeitsbekaempfung@mw.niedersachsen.de. For data protection reasons, it is not possible to respond to your information.

Assistance provided by relatives or life partners, as a courtesy, by way of neighborly help or self-help remains permissible if it is not aimed at sustainable profit.

The consequences

Anyone who commissions or performs undeclared work and evades taxes, fails to pay social security contributions or fraudulently obtains social benefits is committing a criminal offense that can be punished with a fine or, in serious cases, a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Undeclared work, which is prosecuted as an administrative offense, can be punished with fines of up to 300,000 euros.

In many cases, there is also the threat of exclusion from public contracts.

What can I do?

Undeclared work causes great damage. Therefore

• Do not work illegally,
• Do not employ undeclared workers,
• be vigilant and inform the relevant authorities responsible for combating undeclared work.

• Customs website
• Financial control of undeclared work