AIBU to refuse to pay cash in hand?

Cash in hand is a fuck you to the taxpayer. You, me and everyone else.

I'm a tradesman, electrician, I can't abide cash or cheques, transfers are easy, make my accounting simple and put the money where it needs to be, in the bank, ready to pay suppliers invoices etc.

That said, there is nothing in itself illegal in asking for cash, so long as it is declared - however I agree that you should be wary of cash payments, especially with no paperwork.

I think you mean tax evasion.

Tax avoidance is legal.

My DSis gets paid in cash. Everything is declared and she works for a high street business. She gets paid in cash because she has struggled with gambling addiction online. It’s also easier for her to keep track of her spending which has been a separate issue in the past.

What’s it to you how someone gets paid?

Cars can be used to commit crimes - including driving over the speed limit which every car is capable of, or driving through a red light. Would you like someone to refuse to let you drive your car in case you committed a crime with it? How insulting would that be?

Some small businesses prefer cash. I know taxi drivers do. It is convenient being able to pay by card but I always have cash on me. My card sometimes gets declined. Most of the time I do have enough cash on me to pay.

Well said
People being pissy on here about independent cafes being cash only when Starbucks has avoided hundreds of millions in taxes

I'd happily pay - we're all working hard out here to survive. Even if it is a bit of tax avoidance, I know people lumbered with a huge tax bill and then they're struggling themselves. I don't begrudge a bit of cash here and there for people to enjoy.

Yep, every tradesperson I’ve ever known does cash in hand work. You just ask them for a cash price.

Perk of the trade, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m speaking as someone with no way to structure finances the same way myself: I’m an additional rate PAYE earner, but good luck to anyone who can do it. Usually find they’ll come and do the job quicker, too.

What about other goods and services ?
In my town many places are cash only to avoid paying credit card fees.. crushing independent businesses
Nail place / hairdressers / beauty place/ barbers/ cafe / takeaways are all cash.m

Any business can choose to be cash only for whatever reason they want. I think it's a stretch to say every business that prefers cash is for some illegal reason. Im sure it goes on but most people in here are happy to get deliverys from amazon, just eat etc and they arent exactly well known for being totally honest or have the best intentions of the people working for them. A few years ago was it uber who tried to say everyone was self employed so the company didn't have to pay sick pay, pensions etc? So of course anyone working for them would want any tips in cash

Strange, I won’t go into or give shops my custom if the DONT accept cash

I think there are a lot of objections to payments being “tracked” too via card and bank transfer. I’m a fairly boring, professional middle aged mum. I’m not a criminal, I’m not being abused in any way, the government already have all my details and I pay tax through paye so I’m not hiding from anyone or doing anything dodgy and have no reason to object to my bank statements showing where I’ve been and what I’m doing so it doesn’t bother my paying by card but lots of civil liberty type groups really hate it, don’t trust the banks and institutions and see it as a form of control. It’s the same with CCTV / ID cards / facial recognition stuff.

I thought literally every tradesperson who wanted to be paid in cash was doing it to avoid paying tax. I’ve paid cash in hand for lots of smallish house repair stuff. None of my business whether they pay tax or not and they usually offer it cheaper for cash in hand so I’m happy!

Cash in a cafe isn't really evading tax? They don't want to pay banking/transaction fees on cards.

There's lots of reasons. While I seldom use cash myself, I respect the rights of those who make other choices. In my first job, they had only just moved on from cash in an envelop, with a payslip so no tax avoidance was going on, but many staff preferred it, as they found they budgeted better and couldn't get overdrawn. Payments involved with using cards? Not trusting banks? The fact that when tills went down, only cash was accepted? Customers doing unjustified chargebacks? The principle of cash being legal tender and not having to use anything else? Easy to give to others, including just being able to hand a child a fiver, give it to your grandad who doesn't like apps or online banking? Tips (many servers prefer cash tips)?
Don't know where you are, but round here it can be very hard to get tradesmen/women so not respecting how they wanted to be paid would make it hard to get one.

Most takeaways in my street are cash only and I always wonder how they get away with it, to be honest.

Choosing to pay cash when you get a receipt and it goes through the books is one thing, but cash with a discount is only because it's not being declared. Tax evasion is theft. Theft from everyone.
I pay my gardener, window cleaner and hairdresser by bank transfer and it costs them nothing. I won't go into a cafe that says cash only because I won't help them evade tax.

Some people, esp when I was growing up, would think paying cash in hand meant you paid less because the worker was passing on banking savings etc to you or charged less because presumed was off the books. Either way, am sure that cash in hand attitude to a bargain lives on.

When you set up a bank account as a small business you usually have a choice to pay higher fees for cash deposits (normally free for a fixed period but will eventually be charged) or electronic deposits. Most forward thinking businesses would choose lower fees on electronic payments as the majority of payments are done that way. Most card readers charge much smaller amounts per transaction than cash deposits, and are far safer. You don't have to cash up or send someone to the bank with the cash which takes extra time. There is a cafe near us that claims they get charged 'extortionate' fees and trys to promote cash but I'm certain this is all just not put through the books properly to avoid the VAT threshold. Ultimately we all pay for that as tax payers. I can see their card reader, it's not an expensive one.

The most common reason on this thread is bank charges. The bank doesn’t charge for a bank transfer and that how we have always paid. Anyone insisting on cash and not accepting a transfer is defrauding the taxpayer/CMS/benefit system.

YANBU and don't even get me started on VAT... Youre a roofer, don't tell me you don't earn enough to register for VAT when your Facebook is full of all the new roofs you've laid...

@FuzzyWolf and if I pay by bank transfer,which I usually do, what does it cost the business, which I usually do, is that a cost for the business too? If so, thanks for the information, I wasn't aware of this.

Exactly this- A number of times over the years I have seen complaints from estranged spouses of self employed individuals that their spouses dodge child support by under-declaring their income and doing a lot of work cash in hand. However, this same tax dodging activity was seemingly acceptable when the spouse and children were benefitting and the tax-man was not.

As taxes pay disability benefits, nurses wages etc this type of double-standard is hypocritical and I think it’s reasonable to make a stand against tax evasion in all its forms including cash in hand payments.

I generally try to pay cash wherever possible and rarely have a problem with doing so
having been in huge debt years ago I find cash much easier to account for I know exactly what I’m spending

tomorrow I’m taking my sons car to the garage for a gearbox service. 350

asked if I could pay cash. - yep no problem
i paid for some work to be done on it last year
It was 1300

both places gave me a receipt and were happy to take cash

i generally book my Botox on line with a 20 deposit but pay the balance in cash

when I had new carpets put in I paid cash to the shop and to the fitters

I pay my nail salon in cash and my hairdresser as well but they also accept cards

if I’m going out for a meal I generally pay in cash and tip the waiters in cash

if I go to a restaurant or a shop and they won’t take cash then I won’t spend my money with them

business ate perfectly entitled not to want to take cash
and people are perfectly entitled to say I won’t use you if you don’t

2 big well known chain restaurants went cashless only for around 2 years
but I notice that in the in the past year they now accept cash.
but they only accept the correct amount and won’t give you change which is fine with me