From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishblack economyˌblack eˈconomy noun [singular] BEbusiness activity that takes place secretly, especially in order to avoid tax → black market
Examples from the Corpus
black economy• The existence of a black economy is, of course, not confined to the United Kingdom.• It leads to the stimulation of a privately run black economy as its crucial lubricant. 5.• Boosts the black economy, I suppose.• New careers in alternative economies, in the black economy and in voluntary work will also be studied.• If taxes rise simultaneously there is the prospect of a major disincentive effect on output or of growth in the black economy.• Most women are forced through economic necessity to work in part-time low-paid jobs with quite a large number in the black economy.• Publicly suppressed since the 1920s, these qualities have only survived through the black economy, or through private family oral traditions.• The black economy refers to those unrecorded economic transactions conducted on a cash basis with a view to illegal evasion of tax.From Longman Business Dictionaryblack economyˌblack eˈconomy [countable]ECONOMICSCOMMERCE business activities that take place unofficially, especially in order to avoid paying taxIt is impossible to quantify exactly the extent of the black economy. → economy 