State Social Insurance Funding: Contribution Collection Problems Cover Image

Valstybinio socialinio draudimo fondo finansavimas: įmokų surinkimo problematika
State Social Insurance Funding: Contribution Collection Problems

Author(s): Arvydas Guogis, Audrius Bitinas
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: social protection; financing; state social insurance; contributions; reform

Summary/Abstract: Today’s European Union Member States and European Union authorities, faced with economic recession and the globalization phenomenon, look for new ways to ensure adequate social protection systems and sustainability. One of the objectives is to increase the social security number of contributors, not only to attract new contributors, but also to collect revenue from non-observed economy (otherwise known as the “shadow economy”). As the number of social security contributors declines each year, the state looks for ways to make the counterparty eligible for all social security benefits (pension provision, sickness and maternity benefits, occupational accidents and occupational disease benefits, unemployment insurance and health benefits) payment. Of course, when fighting against a shadow economy it is necessary to introduce other reforms—with increasing life expectancy, extending the retirement age (or flexible as is determined by promoting longer work time to earn a higher pension), extending the length of insurance period, and so on. Fighting against shadow economy means not only the reduction of the public deficit or improvement of the management efficiency of the system, but also ensuring the efficiency of social spending and social insurance principles. The public debt aggravates the overall economic situation and the economic recession, but a substantial income is received from the non-observed (“shadow”) economy. Thus, the fight against shadow economy and the rising number of social security contributors is currently a key issue in order to balance the state social insurance fund budget and eliminate the deficit, while ensuring the continued payment of social security contributions. The objective of the article is to identify the responsibility for the state social insurance contributions avoidance modes, to create contribution evasion prevention techniques and to summarize the measures for fighting against the “shadow” economy in the field of social security.

  • Issue Year: 3/2011
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 551-574
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Lithuanian