AIBU to refuse to pay cash in hand?

How would a change in government be responsible for people budgeting? It’s not like there wasn’t a cost of living crisis under the last government.

It's up to you how you'd like to pay. You need to find someone who accepts your preferred payment method. However you pay, you need to do so in good faith, assuming that all cash will be declared. I declare ALL cash that my business earns.

How are credit control and cash flow improved through cash receipts?

Hairdresser, cleaner, window cleaner I pay cash on the day. My cleaners had a lot of trouble chasing clients who do BACS transfer. She sacks them off now. My neighbour is a tutor he's had issues getting paid, so he gets cash.

We have a retired decorator who does the odd job when the spirit moves him. His work is excellent we've paid him cash.

The local Chinese is cash only.

Since the government change there's a lot more cash being used again apparently. It's a way of budgeting

I don’t usually carry a large amount of cash either but lots of small businesses prefer it. There is a cafe on the beach near me which doesn’t accept card payments so I always make sure I have a few pounds in my pocket when walking the dog there. I’ve seen one of the beauty salons in my town turn people away or charge them a higher price to pay by card, I assume to cover their costs and my corner shop also has a £5.00 minimum payment for card so I use cash there to save myself spending needlessly. To be fair to them, I think there’s a bit of a use it or lose it attitude to cash at the moment.

Exactly. A tradie I gave a lot of work to started asking me to pay in cash because he was near the threshold for VAT registration.

A lot of people think working cash in hand makes paying tax and NI optional. It's not.

And a “fuck you” to everyone legitimately paying their taxes too! 🙄

A fuck you to the govt? NO, it's a fuck you to tax payers. And that's why I object to cash in hand. Inevitably no tax, VAT, NI or insurance is paid. Which impacts CMS and benefits. And often a shit job without accountability.

Cash is not cheaper if you pay it into a business account in many of the banks. We found that bank transfers in had no charges, card payments incurred a charge (around 1.5%) but cash was horrendously expensive - the banks don't want it so make it expensive to use.

And to the rest of us.

Our handyman used to accept payment in cash only. He said he'd had too many customers whose cheques bounced, or who forgot to do a bank transfer, so he made it a rule only to accept cash.

He was a very upstanding kind of person, and I'd be amazed if he was doing anything dodgy with tax evasion etc.

Having said that, we eventually stopped using him, and the cash payments were one of the reasons for that. It was just a massive pain to get all the cash out. I did suggest bank transfers on the spot, so that he could see the money going in on his banking app, but he was an older gentleman and I don't think he necessarily had a banking app on his phone.

Anyway. People are not unreasonable to ask for cash payments only. But you are also not unreasonable to say no and employ someone else.

If you want to look at/judge real tax avoidance look at Amazon, Boots and most millionaires!

Exactly this ☝️

It's the accounting, not the banking - for me it's amounts of £75 or £100 and I just spend it. But I like being able to match up my invoices to my bank statement and not stress about it. Also, weirdly, some people do not like it if they pay you cash and you send them an invoice with 'paid' on it - I think they like to imagine paying cash is some kind of friendly conspiracy they've got going on with you.

Could you not ask for payment in advance or monthly standing order?

It could be tax dodging. Or it could be due to fear of losing cash because it isn't used enough. There are some theories, which some would call conspiracies, that once cash has gone we can be completely under the control of the state. There are also people who want to hold on to cash for the nostalgia of it, remembering how nice it was to get a £10 note in a birthday card, save change in a piggy bank etc. Cash can be a great way to teach maths skills. Some people budget better with cash.
I'm not a tax dodger, even if I wanted to I couldn't as I'm employed by the local authority so it all goes through payroll. I do try and use cash sometimes though as I don't want us to lose it.

I'm a childminder and I ask for payment in cash, too many people over the years have said I've sent the bank transfer or I'll do it later, it all goes through the books correctly. It's hard for a self employed person to chase a payment if its not forthcoming.

Why is it astonishing? Are you one of those people who expects everyone to know the same stuff you know?

Sure. As long as you know you’re not actively colluding with tax evasion, which isn’t legal for either of you.

Of course shops should continue to be able to accept cash and people to pay in cash. I think the bank charges for small businesses to use card machines is immoral. My issue is with bigger payments to tradespeople.

It’s likely they just want to save money and that’s why they are cheaper in the first place.

A small business using a card machine will typically have to pay 2% in fees (sometimes more) which means £20 for every £1000. Lots of banks don’t charge to deposit £1000 and if they do it’s likely to be a nominal fixed sum that doesn’t exceed £10. Therefore, a job charged at £5000 costs the trader (and effectively you, because it’s passed on) £100 in charges. Pay in cash and it costs between £0 and £10. It’s not tax fraud, just sensible finances. The fact so many people are ignorant to this is astonishing.

Must be a PTA because you have to physically bank it and account for it.

Wow!! I don't live in the UK but I can't imagine any builder here wanting to be paid that much in cash, nor have I encountered anyone who asked to be paid in cash in many decades. Builders here generally send an invoice at the end of the month, as do most other trades. Even my late DM's lawnmowing man sent a monthly bill, and that was for a tiny amount.

As long as he gave me a receipt I probably would just pay cash for light gardening. But as others say, it could be to dodge cms or tax so don't feel bad for saying it's bank transfer or we part ways.

Benefits me if we go with the cash quote…