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Original poster

Would you pay cash in hand to save a large amount of money?

100 replies

TattiePants · 06/10/2021 17:54

We’re currently getting quotes for a new roof and the first two quotes came back yesterday. The first roofer has quoted between £19-£25k (depending on materials) for the main roof but that is on the insistence that we pay for it all in cash. He didn’t give me an on the books rate as he wouldn’t take the job if I wasn’t paying cash. Despite being cash in hand he’s still significantly higher than the second quote. We won’t be using him but even if he was cheaper, I still couldn’t bring myself to use him. Just wondering if other people would be prepared to save money (approx. £6k) by letting a tradesperson fiddle their tax.

OP posts:

waybill · 06/10/2021 18:28

Have you looked him up on CoH, OP? Because I would And being an accountant, you'd know as well as I do that a solid business name and reputation is no guarantee against blatant fraud. In fact, it makes getting away with it more possible.

Asking for cash is not breaking any laws Not in itself, no.

But the OP says that the trader is insisting on it and refusing to take the job unless payment is in cash, which is very unusual for such a large contract in these days of instant online bank transfers.

In any case, cash payments that large would be subject to money laundering regulations, and the OP drawing that much out of their bank account would ring all sorts of alarm bells with the bank.

To my mind, the trader would not only be evading VAT, he would very likely be 'forgetting' to declare his earnings for income tax as well. Someone with 5 or 6 jobs that size a year would by law have to register for VAT anyway, as they would be over the threshold.

So in this particular case, I'd say that the trader asking for payment in this much cash is as dodgy as fuck.

Original poster

TattiePants · 06/10/2021 18:29

@Hoppinggreen but asking me for cash isn’t an isolated event. The only other person I felt comfortable asking also confirmed he paid cash and the few people that recommended him to my friend also paid cash. Sounds like he has been doing it for years. There is a slim possibility that he is regularly receiving £20-30k for genuine reasons but it raises enough questions for me to not want to deal with him. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable going to my bank to withdraw £30k!

OP posts:

Idontlike · 06/10/2021 18:29

We paid our roofer cash but only because FIL gave us a load he’d been stashing in the back of his wardrobe.
The roofer didn’t offer any kind of discount, the price had been agreed before work started, in fact it ended up £1,000 more as a few extras came up.

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waybill · 06/10/2021 18:32

So, in your professional capacity, @TattiePants - how do you feel about shopping him ethics-wise?

BertieBotts · 06/10/2021 18:32

No way, not on something like that. I'd want to know they had the proper qualifications and would do the job to spec, which generally means proper records etc. Cash in hand wouldn't give you that.

Original poster

TattiePants · 06/10/2021 18:34

@waybill completely agree with everything above. He’s not a ltd company. I’m interested to know how he is doing it. Surely he’s putting the materials through the books to reclaim the input VAT but there’d be no corresponding sale. We’re going to need thousands of tiles so if he’s doing this 5 or 6 times a year, that’s a lot of tiles to ‘lose’!

OP posts:

blacksax · 06/10/2021 18:36

@Idontlike

We paid our roofer cash but only because FIL gave us a load he’d been stashing in the back of his wardrobe. The roofer didn’t offer any kind of discount, the price had been agreed before work started, in fact it ended up £1,000 more as a few extras came up.

That sounds fine to me - you can pay any amount you like in cash. The issue is when the seller or service provider is insisting on cash, and is reluctant to commit anything to paper...

Fraud is dead easy.

Get customer to pay £20,000 in cash.
Print out fake invoice for £15,000 to show in your books.
Pay £15,000 in cash into your bank, which matches fake invoice.
Pocket £5,000.

Hoppinggreen · 06/10/2021 18:39

[quote TattiePants]@Hoppinggreen but asking me for cash isn’t an isolated event. The only other person I felt comfortable asking also confirmed he paid cash and the few people that recommended him to my friend also paid cash. Sounds like he has been doing it for years. There is a slim possibility that he is regularly receiving £20-30k for genuine reasons but it raises enough questions for me to not want to deal with him. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable going to my bank to withdraw £30k![/quote]
Of course you shouldn’t do anything you feel uncomfortable with. I was just pointing out that paying in cash doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything dodgy going on

Tittyfilarious81 · 06/10/2021 18:48

I have an amazing builder who I've used for several jobs and my friends have too and he told me to never deal with anyone who only accepts cash because there is no good reason not to be paid Into your account if you are genuine.

flippertyop · 06/10/2021 18:50

Yes

IveGotASongThatllGetOnYNerves · 06/10/2021 18:52

And leave myself open to getting ripped off, to having little comeback? No chance.
The type of person who would push that is not someone I'd trust.

waybill · 06/10/2021 18:53

[quote TattiePants]@waybill completely agree with everything above. He’s not a ltd company. I’m interested to know how he is doing it. Surely he’s putting the materials through the books to reclaim the input VAT but there’d be no corresponding sale. We’re going to need thousands of tiles so if he’s doing this 5 or 6 times a year, that’s a lot of tiles to ‘lose’![/quote]
Not if they are charged to other customers in their bills.

Order 10k tiles for big job, charge customer for 10k. All bona fide and output and input vat paid & recovered. All declared, lovely.

Except, that nobody is going to count the tiles used and know that you only used 9k and have 1k tiles left over, already paid for. Especially if you don't declare them in your stock valuation.

Sell those 1k tiles for anything you like cash in hand, and it's all free money. Come on, keep up, lol.

Original poster

TattiePants · 06/10/2021 18:57

I’m too honest!

OP posts:

MatildaIThink · 06/10/2021 18:57

@TattiePants

No, for a whole bunch of reasons, the first being that it is immoral and illegal. However you also loose a lot of legal protections, you have no evidence of payment, you can't get trading standards involved, if there is an issue with building regulations it comes back to you etc.

The sooner we get rid of cash entirely the better.

Chicchicchicchiclana · 06/10/2021 19:00

Lol at the idea of having £20,000 cash stashed away under the mattress.

They are tax dodging twats - avoid like the plague.

Original poster

TattiePants · 06/10/2021 19:04

It would probably work out closer to £35k that I’d have to give him in cash £25k was just for the main roof, there was another £3k for guttering and flat roofs. I was so shocked at 1) the price and 2) cash only that I forgot to ask him about the garage and the porch! I wonder if he only accepts used £20s……

OP posts:

RedMarauder · 06/10/2021 19:05

The sooner we get rid of cash entirely the better.

I was talking to a trade today and he's getting a card machine. So customers with bills under a £2k can pay by card and those over can do a bank transfer.

RedMarauder · 06/10/2021 19:06

OP he would look like he's money laundering.

Footprintsonthemoon1 · 06/10/2021 19:11

Not for something that big no. Happy to give my window cleaner and hairdresser cash though.

wanttomarryamillionaire · 06/10/2021 19:12

All the tradesmen i know will all do it cheaper cash in hand and not one of them are unreliable or bad workmen! Why would you give the government any more than you absolutely have to? I don't know what world the people of MN live in half the time!

AndOtherStories · 06/10/2021 19:16

No. Not really because of any great ethical stance but because he's clearly dishonourable and I wouldn't want him working on my roof or to pay his a large sum of money for anything, definitely not without a proper paper trail.

Taking cash in itself isn't a problem, but insisting on cash, especially for such a large transaction probably is.

wanttomarryamillionaire · 06/10/2021 19:16

In fact absolutely every single SE person i know doesn't declare all their earnings, cant say i blame them either!

TertiusLydgate · 06/10/2021 19:16

I just paid a builder 3k cash. To save him money, there was no discount for me.

Tal45 · 06/10/2021 19:34

For £50 I'd pay cash, but for that amount no way.

TSSDNCOP · 06/10/2021 19:38

Is it at all possible you are in the SE? I've just had exactly the same with a roofer, also highly advertised and recommended.

To be honest my concern was that if nothing was going through the books and he fell off my roof would I be liable?

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