Black economy/ fake goods/ dole cheats & reporting

pennypitstop

Heard recently that there is a huge increase in the no. of people being reported for working the black economy, false Social welfare claims and even for selling copyrited and fake goods.
Facebook is rife with it & I'm sure a raid on an xmas craft fair would expose a few more.

Do you think people should report if they know someone?
Is there a serious problem in your opinion or are some crimes not so bad?

Would you report someone?
Would you even know where to to go or who to call?

SafeSurfer

Personally I would not report anybody for making a few quid for Christmas. When Bertie Ahern can claim the source of his unexplained money was a win on the gee gees and he continues to draw a pension of 3 grand a week, why should I report a person selling mince pies at a Christmas Fair?

AnonoBoy

Can we deal with poker cheats first?

I swear to God my mate Rickie is hiding cards under the table somewhere. F*cking Royal Flush my ass! :mad:

Mr. Manager

It all depends on the severity and the state of that persons well being/families well being.

If it was deemed necessary to act in such a way then, no, I wouldn't say anything. People who are less fortunate to have jobs need to live too.

Conmaicne Mara

I was working once upon a time with two lads. They vanished one Thursday, so I asked the boss where they were, because I was left holding the shovel(s). They'd gone to sign on.

In truth I felt badly done by, because they were on the same money as myself. I didn't and wouldn't report them though. It's not my job and if the system is broken then it's the system which needs to be addressed.

I don't have a problem with the black economy. I would have more of a problem with the situation above and would report someone for fake goods.

davet82

when they start at the top, i'll report from the bottom.

pennypitstop

I know someone, council housed with a few kids & husband out of work. She works hard & sells homemade buns at local car boot sales (will never be rich at it but gets off her ass and makes an effort). Someone reported her with details of where she had been etc. and she was called in to explain herself.

I don't think this is the sort of person who should be targeted.

Death and Taxes

Everyone should be targetted reported, no point in whining o about the Berties, and Drumms when you do nothing about the chancers who are working and signing.
Who do you think pays for these cheats?....We all do!

hyperborean

Rats out

AnonoBoy

hyperborean wrote: »

Rats out

Get your rats out. Get your rats out.

Get your rats out for the traps.

Anyone

The one most common tax/welfare cheat I detest is single mothers who are actually living with their partner. I dont report them, but I am very tempted to.

leonidas83

Anyone trying to survive, improve their own situation is fine by me.

People trying to scam/ milk the system because of pure greed is another thing & their is plenty of that sort out there still. Also alot of these people are putting other small to medium size businesses out of work because there being continually undercut for work by people on the dole/not paying taxes.

HeyThereDeliah

Everyone tries to justify it but fraud, dole cheats, minding kids not declaring it, single mothers etc its all wrong regardless of how anyone tries to justify it, those of us who are working are paying tax etc and have to manage on what we earn.

SEPT 23 1989

Its takes a special breed to pick up the phone and rat & squeal on their fellow citizens:D

westendgirlie

HeyThereDeliah wrote: »

Everyone tries to justify it but fraud, dole cheats, minding kids not declaring it, single mothers etc its all wrong regardless of how anyone tries to justify it, those of us who are working are paying tax etc and have to manage on what we earn.

single mothers are wrong you say?

SEPT 23 1989

westendgirlie wrote: »

single mothers are wrong you say?

easy targets in this State

always have been

anncoates

If you want to be a rat. It's a matter for your own conscience, I guess.

mariaalice

I haven a clue if i would report someone or not, When you are at the bottom of the heap in society and have little to no chance of getting legitimate employment you still want the same as every one else including a good Christmas for your children and for your family not to go with out.

When I was out this morning I saw someone scavenging a few fallen tree branches obviously he was bringing them home for the fire, people have alway had ways of trying to provide for their family's and some of them are not legitimate but its debatable if they are morally wrong. We use to keep a huge amount of turkeys when I was child, they were all killed and plucked the week before Christmas by men who were on the dole my father knew where to find them nobody passed any head to this.

westendgirlie

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

easy targets in this State

always have been

Lovely.

Michael Weston

pennypitstop wrote: »

I know someone, council housed with a few kids & husband out of work. She works hard & sells homemade buns at local car boot sales (will never be rich at it but gets off her ass and makes an effort). Someone reported her with details of where she had been etc. and she was called in to explain herself.

I don't think this is the sort of person who should be targeted.

Why shouldnt she be targeted ? Welfare fraud is welfare fraud, if its just a few quid she is making why not declare it.

Everyone is moaning about tax dodgers, bankers corrupt politicans and here we have a thread condoning people defrauding the state of taxpayers money.

Its a complete joke whats going on in this country !!

SEPT 23 1989

westendgirlie wrote: »

Lovely.

Michael Weston

westendgirlie wrote: »

single mothers are wrong you say?

Before you edited it to suit your needs the poster said single mothers living with partners and not declaring it is wrong.

westendgirlie

Michael Weston wrote: »

Before you edited it to suit your needs the poster said single mothers living with partners and not declaring it is wrong.

Get you facts right watson :rolleyes:

HeyThereDeliah

westendgirlie wrote: »

single mothers are wrong you say?

I did not say that. I mentioned single mothers as another poster mentioned single mothers living with partners. careful getting of that high horse, some people will jump on every little detail, sad IMO.

AnonoBoy

I report nitpickers myself and those who willfully misinterpret posts.

john_cappa

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

rat & squeal on their fellow citizens:D

This is a mentally from childhood that comes to adulthood for certain situations. It is also common in harder criminal circles, rats are bad etc. Guards are ***** and rats are the enemy.

Very sheep like to follow this mantra.

srsly78

Before people start going completely nuts they should realise that people are allowed to earn a small amount on the side without paying tax. Yes even if on the dole. However they are supposed to declare this extra income.

So definitely report serious abuses, but note that people selling mince pies are christmas may not in fact be dodging tax.

westendgirlie

HeyThereDeliah wrote: »

Everyone tries to justify it but fraud, dole cheats, minding kids not declaring it, single mothers etc its all wrong regardless of how anyone tries to justify it, those of us who are working are paying tax etc and have to manage on what we earn.

I'll stay up here for another while, ta. The above is your post and all you say is "single mothers". Do you want to ring up a helpline and to report a single mother for being a the Spar shop or what?

whatlliwear

I have never reported anyone but I found out recently that a guy I know is claiming Disability & working away getting €100 a day (tax free) on top of their claim.. This is very very wrong..

HeyThereDeliah

westendgirlie wrote: »

I'll stay up here for another while, ta. The above is your post and all you say is "single mothers". Do you want to ring up a helpline and to report a single mother for being a the Spar shop or what?

If you are that bothered report me, see where that gets you, I forgot this is AH and some posters need everything explained to them in easy steps.
You are nit picking for the sake of nit picking trying to make yourself look all PC, wasting your time on me.

darced

This post has been deleted.

Anyone

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

How about those that cheat,abuse and steal from other citizens? Do you ever wonder if they feel any guilt?

Ray Palmer

srsly78 wrote: »

Before people start going completely nuts they should realise that people are allowed to earn a small amount on the side without paying tax. Yes even if on the dole. However they are supposed to declare this extra income.

So definitely report serious abuses, but note that people selling mince pies are christmas may not in fact be dodging tax.

If on the dole you pay tax and extra income is taxable. You may not need to pay income tax.
You could work Saturdays and Sundays and keep your dole. Think you still can too

westendgirlie

HeyThereDeliah wrote: »

If you are that bothered report me, see where that gets you, I forgot this is AH and some posters need everything explained to them in easy steps.
You are nit picking for the sake of nit picking trying to make yourself look all PC, wasting your time on me.

What would I be reporting you for

Take a look at Anyone's post a couple above yours. He states he has an issue with single mothers.....who are living with someone. His post makes sense and I can appreciate what he means.

Your post doesn't elaborate on anything. All i can take from it is that all single mothers are a drain on society. How wrong you are. And me, PC?

Valetta

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If you saw the house of your elderly neighbour (fellow citizen) being broken into, would you ring the gardai ( rat on them)?

darced

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Valetta

darced wrote: »

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Do you really think black marketeers or social welfare cheats don't hurt anyone?

Really?

AnonoBoy

darced wrote: »

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To be honest it depends on what they're doing.

If someone was making a few quid on the side while drawing the dole I wouldn't care. But if I saw someone making a proper wage and claiming benefits fraudulently I'd shop them.

F*ck that sh*t. It's my money they're taking.

jessiejam

FFS It shouldn't be up to the general population to report anyone. There should be systems in place to prevent fraud on every level within the SW.

darced

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northernpower

A girl lives beside my parents, my parents own their house but hers is council, all paid for. She has 2 children to different fathers, the father of the youngest lives with her but isn't on the residency so his income isn't considered when she is getting her allowances for housing, children, unemployment etc...., she also works for cash in hand in bar, and her brother a good friend of mine throws her £50 a week for minding his kids while him and his wife are at work.

This is the epitome of someone just taking the piss, she doesn't want for anything as far as material goods are concerned. Her kids are absolutely spoiled with computers and games and anything they need, and they have a cinema screen sized tv in the corner.

Now she is a lovely girl, friendly with my parents and all, and they dote on her kids, but sometimes it must absolutely stick in my parents throats to see how much she is able to spend on her kids and her house and everything. I'd say my parents would have loved to have spoiled us the same but they worked hard to own their house and when my dad was out of work my mums income just about covered the mortgage and kept us in clothes.

Anyway, as I said this is the epitome of someone taking the piss, and probably the basis behind the 'single mothers' comment from a few posts back. But I know my parents would never say anything, even if they weren't friendly with her (believe me there's plenty of others in the same housing estate at exactly the same) so are we part of the problem for facilitating this? Probably, but I don't think too many people would report someone in the same circumstance.

AnonoBoy

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You do understand that social welfare comes from taxpayer's money don't you?

It's not a bottomless pot that everyone gets to dive into and grab what they can from.

signostic

northernpower wrote: »

A girl lives beside my parents, my parents own their house but hers is council, all paid for. She has 2 children to different fathers, the father of the youngest lives with her but isn't on the residency so his income isn't considered when she is getting her allowances for housing, children, unemployment etc...., .

Next door to me is a similar situation, single woman, 2 kids, live in bf not declared, he actually runs a clothes alteration business from the house.She told me she claims job seekers, single parent, rent & fuel allowance, medical card plus other freebies from the SW. Would I report her ...no but the SW should have systems in place to counteract these claims, thats what we pay the public service for isn`t it

AnonoBoy

signostic wrote: »

Next door to me is a similar situation, single woman, 2 kids, live in bf not declared, he actually runs a clothes alteration business from the house.She told me she claims job seekers, single parent, rent & fuel allowance, medical card plus other freebies from the SW. Would I report her ...no but the SW should have systems in place to counteract these claims, thats what we pay the public service for isn`t it

Would you report a murder or would you just say, "Sure that's why we have the Gardai isn't it?"

MaxSteele

Who buys fake goods aside from a few santa hats and whatnot on Jervis street every xmas ? I don't know any myself, even in this climate.

On the black economy, someone looking for work while on the dole, but doing a few nixers like delivery service, babysitting or DIY isn't hurting me or anyone else.

I'd view people who rat on the above as a billy no mates type who hides behind the curtains.

AnonoBoy

MaxSteele wrote: »

I'd view people who rat on the above as a billy no mates type who hides behind the curtains.

I know a guy who can get you curtains. Good price. Nice deal. You buy! YOU BUY@!!!!!

WoollyRedHat

pennypitstop wrote: »

Heard recently that there is a huge increase in the no. of people being reported for working the black economy, false Social welfare claims and even for selling copyrited and fake goods.
Facebook is rife with it & I'm sure a raid on an xmas craft fair would expose a few more.

Do you think people should report if they know someone?
Is there a serious problem in your opinion or are some crimes not so bad?

Would you report someone?
Would you even know where to to go or who to call?

Money is tight, people who may do a little on the side to support themselves and their family, in a consumerist holiday such as Christmas should not be targetted, they are small fry. If people honestly have reported others over making items and selling them in fairs, considering how small an amount that would make a person, then it's quite depressing.
However, someone defrauding society at large, when they know they shouldn't, by claiming for things in a fradulent manner, is wrong.
On the other side of the coin, society needs to be careful that it doesn't turn in on itself, distrust of people, suspicision, an orwellian environment... divide and conquer. The question you have asked, in any case, is not black and white, but many shades of grey ( not fifty shades though)

old hippy

john_cappa wrote: »

This is a mentally from childhood that comes to adulthood for certain situations. It is also common in harder criminal circles, rats are bad etc. Guards are ***** and rats are the enemy.

Very sheep like to follow this mantra.

These people trying to make a few quid in tough times aren't hardened criminals though.

The sheep are those who are easily led to grass.

signostic

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Would you report a murder or would you just say, "Sure that's why we have the Gardai isn't it?"

You make a fair point.... it astonished me how easy she said it was to claim all of her allowances...surely there should be more checks and balances

TwoShedsJackson

signostic wrote: »

You make a fair point.... it astonished me how easy she said it was to claim all of her allowances...surely there should be more checks and balances

More checks and balances would require more clerical staff and/or computer systems to catch. That's being paid for by the taxpayer.

So they want you to report people to save on that. If it concerns you that much, report her, but if you don't you have no right to complain about what she's claiming.

shopaholic01

If you did report someone would they know it was you? More people might do it if it was anonymous. Anyone fraudulently claiming social welfare should be reported - it might allow more money for those who genuinely need it and reduce tax for those in employment.