Tunisia loses $1.09bln each year through tax evasion

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Tunisia - Tunisia loses 3 billion dinars every year due to tax and social security evasion by people working in the informal economy, but this amount can be recovered if reforms are undertaken at the level of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), according to a UN study entitled "The informal economy in Tunisia".

According to this document, if appropriate reforms were implemented at one of Tunisia's main social security funds, the CNSS, it would be able to mobilise the same amount in the form of additional resources over a period of 5 years.

According to the study, drawn up by the United Nations Development Programme in Tunisia (UNDP) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, the CNSS incurred losses of around 1.3 billion dinars in 2020, due to the non-payment of contributions by 917,000 people working in the informal sector.

In its assessment of the loss of tax revenue to the State as a result of the non-payment of tax in the parallel sector, the report relied on the calculation of added value, the sector's turnover, and the statistics for small businesses in 2016, which showed that their annual turnover was within the limit of 52 billion dinars.

This study comes at a time when the government is working to mobilise financing on the external and internal markets, due to the weakness of tax resources and pension contributions, whereas the gradual and comprehensive integration of the poor categories operating in the parallel sector is capable of covering the country's financing needs.

According to the authors of this document, in 2020, the informal sector employed 26.8% of the workforce in Tunisia, providing 917,000 jobs. Their employers did not pay their social security contributions.

In addition, the proportion of young people working in this sector (aged 15-19) was 81.4%, which is a regional and international record.

According to the same source, workers' recourse to the parallel market is due to the lack of decent employment opportunities in the structured sector, due in particular to institutional, economic and social obstacles.