Buying a house cash

Ah. Thanks UhOhOP. I did ask a while back how are you getting cash if working online.

Totally misunderstood and stand corrected.

Why do you have to say sex work! Why not online modelling? Or you make it from your social media account? Etc

Just say you are a content creator. Presumably you run a business and pay tax on your sex earnings. No need to go into anymore details.

The solicitor will want to see you have the cash in your account, I just printed off the part of the statement showing the final balance so long as your name and all your details are showing that’s all they need, you then send the money to them just before completing

£300,000, not £30,000.

And the money is already in the bank, presumably. OP does work online, so probably isn't receiving envelopes of cash in the mail. She gets paid electronically.

I am afraid that you are going to have to. Money laundering regs are ridiculously tight.
They work for you remember!

Do you have accounts showing the income, and showing that the tax has been paid on it?

it doesn’t matter of it ‘clashes’ with your 9-5, they don’t know you have other self employed income, so you can declare it to HMRC and pay tax etc.

did you?

I understood her to mean that she has money in the bank plus about 30k in cash. The issue then would be how to get that money into a bank to be recognised as legitimate. I didn't think she was turning up at an estate agents with a suitcase full of £50 notes.

She specifically says about £30k and says she wants to buy a house outright - 30k wouldn't buy you a shed in the UK these days so I presumed the 30K was referring to the amount she has in cash and that she doesn't know how to get into the financial system given the kinds of questions etc that this would give rise to.

I could be wrong obviously

When we bought (a few years ago now) we had to show 3 months worth of bank statements, to prove we weren't money laundering. There were no question about where the money had come from, and most of it was sitting in the account before the 3 months period, so there was no record of how I got it originally.

I don't think the OP means she wants to bring a suitcase full of banknotes to buy a house with, @swallowedAfly . 'Cash buyer' just means somebody who doesn't need to take out a mortgage

The difference with the above though is that you are talking about getting cash into a bank account and thus legitimate rather than earnings that have been paid into an account and therefore evidenced.

I'm curious as to how online work results in cash rather than an electronic payment though.

I've bought two flats as a cash buyer and I'm self employed and freelance. They'll want to know where the money is from, but not beyond 'income from self employment' in my experience (as PP have said, just make sure your tax returns are in order).

In my experience, having the money and not needing a lender means they'll snap your arm off so make sure you get a good price 😀

My dad gifted me a substantial amount to help my deposit, and the mortgage broker needed a letter from his lawyer to explain the money had come from an inheritance.

You may come across something like that, but I'd hope you wouldn't have to.

Alternatively if it's investment you're after buy an overseas property or two, find a manager and airbnb it.

What do you declare the income for hmrc purposes as? I know of sex workers who use terms like therapist for it.

Having a self employed side business is fine, provided it’s legal (which this is) but obviously being a drug dealer wouldn’t be.

So tell your solicitor you have a self employed online business/therapist and that’s where the funds came from.

I work for an accountancy practice which is unusual in that it has a large number of clients working in the adult industry.

This is something we get asked all the time.

The simple answer is you will need to have declared your income and have tax returns to prove it. You do not have to declare your specific employment type to HMRC. We have a list of practical job titles for purposes such as this.

Buying a house with cash is not a problem but you will have to have " evidence" of the income source due to anti money laundering regulations. There are likely to be significant ways to legally minimise taxable income which many pepole aren't aware of. If you aren't getting accountancy advice I'd strongly consider getting some.

There are rules around this as I was reading up on them a few years ago with regard to showing where money comes from. Presumably mostly to do with new rules on money laundering as well as tax avoidance issues.

I'd second talking to a solicitor.

I understand cracking down on laundering etc but it does piss me off that we're all being scrutinised to death about our own money whilst they're knowingly doing nothing about people using off shore accounts and scams to avoid UK taxpayer status. One rule for us and other for them.

I was interrogated about transferring money from my own account to an ebank account the other day and remember being interrogated for withdrawing a large cash sum from a bank a few years back when I was going overseas for some time.

If you're earning enough to buy a property outright then you might want to get an accountant to make sure you're being tax efficient.

As long as you are paying tax on your income you are fine. Nobody will question where you got the money from. You are self employed and want to invest. Pick a house and tell them you will be paying cash. They will be happy to take your money.

DH and I employed a financial advisor last year to look into our pensions and savings. I inherited from my late DF during that time and in order for the FA to set up an ISA and a savings account for me, I needed to show him exactly where the money had come from (down to the £1 premium bond being redeemed).

A lot of sole traders have this. It is tax returns they will be concerned with. Unlikely a drug dealer is submitting a tax return.

"Online Business" that's all you need to say. As long as you have tax returns, they won't ask any further. And if they do, it's likely to be out of curiosity!

no for many of those they ask proof - we were gifted a generous sum by family and solicitors made them sign paperwork to say it was a gift and not an investment and that they wouldn’t take any kind of interest from value of house raising etc.

That's not true

They will go by your self assessment tax returns, so if the income is declared as self employed income, it should be OK

Yes, they will check the source of the money. But as long as it's legal and you've paid tax, then honestly they won't care. You do you bo!