to tell my friend paying cash in hand for a builder is immoral

[twistedsista]

My friend is having some building work done, was kind of showing off that she gets it for 120 a day rather than 150 as its cash in hand.

I couldn't help but say I thought it was a bit immoral. As he won't be paying any tax on it that's over 40k a year sallary equilivent and being in London with kids it's possible working tax credits and housing benefit could also be tens of thousands a year.

Should I have just shut up? She took it really personally

Yabvvu it's not your friends job to sift out his tax, it's up to him to declare. No I would nit be boasting, but I have paid cash in hand for small jobs.

also all the nail bars in a 2mile radius of me only except cash,how the heck does that work with the tax man,cash only all of them,pain when you forget and have to dash to nearest cash machine,though i remember now

what gets my goat is when the self employed swear blind that they dont under pay tax and claim for things they shouldnt though

What kinds of things? And why are they telling you? Surely the point of evading tax is that you don't shout about it to all and sundry!

There is absoloutly nothing immoral about paying cash. It is a legitimate type of payment. There is nothing immoral in offering a discount for cash, loads of people and places do it.

In my opinion it says more about you than your friend that you assume this person is avoiding tax becuase he prefers to be paid in cash. He most likely gets a cash discount from his suppliers which is probably what he meant by reducing expenses.

Very confused here as we have paid both by cash and cheque to the same builder, received an invoice and everything!!

I now can't figure out if I'm being immoral or not...maybe a little bit immoral or is that like being a little bit pregnant?

OP if you don't think you're being unreasonable then why did you ask?

We paid our last removal firm cash in hand at a discount when we moved last- no idea if they paid tax on it or not. All I know is I pay all MY taxes so my conscience is clear.

what gets my goat is when the self employed swear blind that they dont under pay tax and claim for things they shouldnt though

What kinds of things? And why are they telling you? Surely the point of evading tax is that you don't shout about it to all a

clothing that isnt work related,meals out that arent work related,really does everyone self employed not put in for non work related expenses and there books 100% legit expense and tax wise,and no cash in hand ever

and yes people do brag about it

one of the injust examples is the self employed who fiddle their income to the CSA for maintanance payments thus not being truthful to the taxman either

My DH does self employed consultancy and i do his taxes. We have never claimed expenses for anything non work related. DH's mother has suggested we slip a few train tickets/receipts in and just say they were for 'meetings' but we always say no.

im not saying all do and fair play if you dont,but my point is some do and to say they dont (not you MRS) is just not true

My dh has done cash in hand work in the past, it still got paid into the business account.

No - I have never claimed for anything to which I wasn't entitled and never would not least because the risks vs the rewards are too great. I sometimes get paid in cash, but it all goes through my books. I don't think anyone is claiming that all self employed workers are squeaky clean, any more than it's fair to say that of any group of people, but to say that those who get paid cash are always avoiding tax is just wrong, as is questioning those who pay in cash.

Just out of interest, have you reported the people who have openly admitted to you that they are lying on their tax return?

no i havent,i was waiting for that one,wrong yes but truthfully i havent,though if i can find out more on my sons dad (slippery snake that he is) than yes i will

clothing that isnt work related,meals out that arent work related,really does everyone self employed not put in for non work related expenses and there books 100% legit expense and tax wise,and no cash in hand ever

I have been self employed for ten years. I have never been paid cash in hand even once and have never done any of the things you suggest. I employ an accountant and only claim for what I'm entitled to.

Likewise when using a trades person I am always issued with a receipt. What they do afterwards in terms of tax declaration is no concern of mine.

so it never happens then

I don't think nobody said it ever happens, but you seemed to imply that everyone who was self employed claims expenses to which they are not entitled, which is a pretty sweeping generalisation and one which could be considered fairly offensive to those of us who are self employed and not on the fiddle!

If you don't like it, and you seem to know plenty of people who are at it, then report them - it would make life easier for those of us who do everything by the book, not to mention every tax payer in the country.

anybody said

SOME s/e tradesmen/businesses will supress their cash takings to HMRC. It's not the method of payment that is questionable - just the honesty of the person doing the Tax Return/accounts, as with expenses etc.

IME those that do suppress the cash takings are caught very very easily. As are those that over - inflate the expenses claims.

My DH is s/e (Milkman) and takes some cash, we we use as drawings. There is no way of supressing the cash takings as everything is recorded and generated electronically these days, so if he just pocketed the cash it will show on the customers bill as not paid.

DoJo. You misquoted me. I didn't say 'nearly everyone' asks for bank transfers. However, I did say that none of the tradesmen I use ask for cash. I have completely renovated several houses over the past few years. No one I use asks for cash let alone offers discounts for cash. I find paying 20% VAT on building works as painful as the next person but that doesn't stop me from paying it.

I did say bank transfers are easier than cash. (BACS faster payments are supported by most banks and are pretty much instantaneous) BACs payments don't require me to go to the bank or cash machine. It also means I don't have to carry cash around with me. The recipient usually has the cash within a couple of hours of me transferring it.

I can see paying small amounts in cash, say £100 or £200 in cash but I would question why anyone would pay larger amounts than that. I also understand that there are some people who don't use internet banking such as my Granny but I would have thought they are in the minority.

DoJo Thanks for the concern about my cleaner honesty but I am very happy with her and trust her completely. I don't know what she does with her tax.

HarbingerOfHappiness

Nearly everyone uses bank transfers these days so there is no real reason to ask for cash.

I'm not sure where I misquoted you - I was just pointing out that, whilst it may be common in some sectors, it is almost unheard of in others, so your experience is not necessarily representative of all workers. This is also true when it comes to convenience - if you are working for a business that handles a lot of cash, it often works out easier for all parties for workers to be paid in cash as nobody needs to wait, everything is settled up immediately, and the business paying doesn't have to add to their banking charges with additional deposits.

Also, I wasn't being snarky about your cleaner - I just meant that the only reason for you to feel like a hypocrite for paying her in cash is if you suspect that she isn't paying tax because of that. If you trust her to access your home, presumably you don't automatically assume that she is avoiding tax just because you pay her in cash, which is kind of my point on this thread.

HarbingerOfHappiness

Nearly everyone uses bank transfers these days so there is no real reason to ask for cash.

I'm not sure where I misquoted you - I was just pointing out that, whilst it may be common in some sectors, it is almost unheard of in others, so your experience is not necessarily representative of all workers. This is also true when it comes to convenience - if you are working for a business that handles a lot of cash, it often works out easier for all parties for workers to be paid in cash as nobody needs to wait, everything is settled up immediately, and the business paying doesn't have to add to their banking charges with additional deposits.

Also, I wasn't being snarky about your cleaner - I just meant that if the only reason for you to feel like a hypocrite for paying her in cash is if you suspect that she isn't paying tax because of that. If you trust her to access your home, presumably you don't automatically assume that she is avoiding tax just because you pay her in cash, which is kind of my point on this thread.

its neither immoral OR any of your business

The friend in question is getting some walls knocked down and general stuff, its cost over 3k so far including all the materials.

To the people saying they won't be making 40k salary amount, the tools can't cost that much for the year and will all be tax deductible, materials are all extra and the transport is tax deductible and most people in workj have to pay for transport.

I think as a member of society tax evasion is my business.

Get a life. YABU.