Reply #11: The Underground Economy Flourishes...

[KharmaTrain]

I've been working with a contractor. The other day I was looking at rebuilding a porch and asked him how much it would cost. He asked if I wanted it "over or under the table". I asked what "under" was and he said "cash only"...and we were talking about $5,000. He went further to say that while his workers are union (a major reason I hired him) even they are willing to go outside the union if it meant getting a little more in their pockets for the job while the customer saves on the taxes. I was told a lot of the renovation work is done this way while any new construction is done "above".