The leaked payslips scandal uncovered yet another less known fact about tax evasion amongst media companies. For 40% of employees in this sector, including journalists and directors, employers have declared that they pay them minimum wage or 30 thousand ALL – around 250 euros.

These numbers are clear indicators of tax evasions, which means that these journalists appear as if they’re working for minimum wage on paper, but are actually getting the rest off the books in cash.

This is considered a serious fiscal offense that is punishable by incarceration but the only way these kinds of crimes can be formalized is if employees come clean and file charges. Refusing to declare the full amount an employee gets paid, causes grave damages to the economy as well as the retirement scheme, due to lower monthly contributions added to their accounts.

Meanwhile, PM Rama made a stern statement during his end-of-year press conference this morning, giving employers until January 20, 2022 to make their actual income tax declarations or they will suffer a full-on investigation and could be facing jail time.