black market labour

Hi,

I have found someone to do some garden work for me and I am concerned that he is working in the black market. My major concern is that I could be in trouble for employing him if he is caught. By employing i mean he works 3 hours a week in my garden.

Do I need to worry or is there any way I can check this out.

thanks

If he is working for you, he should be giving you an invoice if he is working self employed (or alternatively have a part-time salaried contract).

Ask him to produce invoices, see what he has to say.

Regards

Thanks for the reply.

What detail should be on his invoices? Name, address, nie/nif, anything else?

An invoice in Spain to be valid needs the following elements:

• His billing address
• His NIE/NIF/CIF number
• A serial number
• A Date
• Your billing address
• Your NIE/NIF/CIF number
• A breakdown of services and costs, including VAT

You will find an example in:

http://www.rlozano.com/i/factura_model.gif

Regards

Many many thanks for your advice.

It seems that he is not prepared to issue me invoices. I wonder would I have been breaking the law if I had employed him?

Strangely enough, my landlady, who has always insisted on cash payments, does not want to issue invoices either. I assume that would be her problem alone and not any problem for me? If she gives me invoices or receipts, should they contain the same detail as you listed for the gardener?

(I wonder if I am the only person in Spain paying taxes :) )

Thanks again,

If your gardener is not willing to issue invoices, I suggest that you either

1. Find yourself another gardener
2. Contract him as a salaried worker
3. Report him to the Tax Office

Having someone employed without a contract can turn into a real nigtmare. However, if you trust this person, you might want to take the risk of leaving things as they are, as many do in Spain.

As per the issue with your landlady, it's more or less the same story. Not many people declare the rental income in Spain. The consequences for the tenant are none, but if you are using the property for commercial purposes, you migh want to have an invoice to claim a refund on the VAT paid, and offset the costs in your tax return.