If you avoid paying taxes, by working without the knowledge of the government, you ”work black”. You can make much more money this way, much more than you should do otherwise. Besides, you don’t have to do as much paperwork as you should have to do if you made the money legally. Is legally made money worth more? The work is the same - almost -, you don’t exert yourself less, the work isn’t less hard, so what’s the difference?

Assume that your closest neighbour - let’s call him Arnold - has a very big garden, and that he’ll go on a five weeks long vacation this summer. He comes over to your place and asks you if you would like to make some extra money, by taking care of his garden during this time. You’ve thought about buying yourself a nice car on your 18th birthday, but you need much more money to make your dream come true. So what do you do? Tell him ” Yes thank you, I’ll take the job!” Of course! This Arnold happens to be a very wealthy young man, and very open-handed too. He gives you a very nice hourly wage, if it was a ”real” job you would have to pay quite much in taxes, something you don’t have to care about in this case.

You know that according to the law, this is wrong. Your conscience is starting to call you ”ego” and ”selfish”. Those taxes you should have had to pay, would go to good things like the school for example. Instead they ended up in your pocket. ”Remember to always try to be a good neighbour, and to be there for your neighbours when they need you.” That was what your mother always told you, and that was exactly what you had done this summer. Arnold really needed your help, and to show you his appreciation, he gave you some money for it - a very good hourly wage. Now your conscience feels better. It wasn’t just wrong to take this job, it was right too! Illegal, yes sort of, but you did help a friend and neighbour. Besides, now you can buy this car you have dreamed of for so many nights, not by asking your father for money, but by working hard yourself to get them. You have made a lot of money this summer, but have you really earned them?
”Yes”, you think ”I’ve earned this money. Okay, I didn’t pay tax on the money I earned, but it’s not a big thing, it’s not like it’s about very much money.”
Does it matter how much money you can make by working black, does it make it less or more illegal depending on how much money you ”take” from the government? Or is it all ”same, same, but different?”.