Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not be an cash point for my boss?

161 replies

kardashianklone · 21/04/2018 07:51

New job (in the UK). Boss not a UK national and is paid into non UK account in home currency. Boss flat out refuses to open UK bank account. Boss claims they cannot take out money from AMT using their home bank account card an Amex (which I think is not true- more likely boss doesn't want to pay transaction fees). Boss wants to PayPal me the money and for me to take out cash from my account for every transaction. This includes small things like lunches and coffees from Pret and big things like their council tax, water rates bill, electricity bill etc. So we are talking easily over a grand quite quickly. Things like household bills are very hard to pay if you don't have a UK bank account or UK registered credit or debit card and you usually have to make international wire transfers (which incur a fee) and they also don't accept Amex which is what boss have. Even buying train tickets on line is a nightmare. I think that 1. It is somewhat unethical of boss to ask me but I can't put my finger on why exactly and 2. what if I ever got audited and hmrc wants to know what this random influx of money that is not from employment is? Boss has asked me twice to do this. I have said clearly "no I don't want to do it, I feel uncomfortable ". Boss ignored me and said "it would really help me out and other people have done it for me" and did sad face and kept the pressure up. AIBU unreasonable and help me articulate why please!

OP posts:
crunchymint · 21/04/2018 15:12

I would report this to HMRC.

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 21/04/2018 15:13

Suggest to her she tries Western union.

And if she's the second most senior, then report to the top dog.

LoniceraJaponica · 21/04/2018 15:18

"And if you haven't got anything in writing, then following the next request, perhaps email her with a request to stop asking you. At least that way, you've covered yourself."

Yes, respond to the next request and put specific details in it in writing. Something along the lines of "I am unable to accept PayPal money from you and take out cash from my account for every transaction, so please stop asking me"

expatinscotland · 21/04/2018 15:25

NFW! 'I won't do this. Please stop asking me.' And I'd report her to the HMRC. She's money laundering.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 21/04/2018 15:34

OP
If you have to file a tax return yourself just tell her it could cause you problems if HMRC ask to check your income because the PayPal receipts will look like earnings.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 21/04/2018 15:38

ps
I am a lawyer in the City. Find any reason you can to say know but DO NOT TELL HER YOU THINK IT IS MONEY LAUNDERING.
If you tip someone off about your suspicions that can sometimes be a criminal offence in itself. I would report to HMRC too.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 21/04/2018 15:39

no not know

Storminateapot · 21/04/2018 15:52

This is definitely tax evasion. She is presumably non dom who is claiming not to remit her overseas income to the uk. Trying to bring it in via the personal account of a junior staff member is coercive, bullying and money laundering.

Please say no next time but do not mention money laundering - as said above, this could be tipping off.

If she says someone else did it for her just say they obviously didn't understand the non-dom tax implications but you do and you're not prepared to be involved.

Your organisation will probably have a desIgnated Money Laundering Reporting Officer if it is as big as you say. You need to speak to that person about this ASAP, not HR. This isn't just a bit dodgy it's criminal and you need to get yourself extricated and distanced from it very carefully.

mindutopia · 21/04/2018 16:14

Definitely puts you at risk of money laundering. I’m a foreign national living in the U.K. and it’s easy to set up two bank accounts and move money between them. I even come from a country that can cause a bit of a hassle when it comes to getting a UK account but I had no problems. I have two accounts and I used to get paid into both (was employed in the UK but also did consulting so sometimes got paid into other account if clients were in the other country) and it was easy to move money back and forth. I didn’t need to dodgily send it via someone else’s account.

EmilyGB · 21/04/2018 16:28

Once you've had £1000 going into your Paypal account, Paypal will freeze your account until you prove you're self-employed and declaring the income - they did it to me.

Anyway, just NO - this is creepy and worrying.

Tell your boss Paypal have frozen your account.

sahknowme · 21/04/2018 16:32

Tell him to open a transferwise borderless account, and then he can sort himself out.

bonnyshide · 21/04/2018 16:42

If I were you I'd close my PayPal account so she can't make deposits (re-open a new PayPal account with different username if you can)

Or just learn to say NO, this is completely unacceptable and you know it.

BritInUS1 · 21/04/2018 16:45

Don't do it

He is trying to avoid tax ! If he is working in the UK it is likely he owes UK tax, regardless of where he is paid a salary !

Shizzlestix · 21/04/2018 16:47

Be brave, OP, tell her no. All our foreign assistants opened accounts for their 10 month stay, so can your boss. Given you’re unhappy with it, what can she do when you tell her to bugger off?

crunchymint · 21/04/2018 17:00

If this was a boss asking you to collude in benefit cheating, everyone would say to report her. Tax cheats like this also need reporting.

Avasarala · 21/04/2018 17:07

If youre struggling to enforce no as an answer, just lie and say PayPal has limited your account due to unusual activity or something, so you can't withdraw any money from it. That means you don't have enough to cover her expenses and your own.

ItsNachoCheese · 21/04/2018 17:11

No hope in hell would i do this for my boss or anyone else

DalmatianSpring · 21/04/2018 17:17

this was a boss asking you to collude in benefit cheating, everyone would say to report her. Tax cheats like this also need reporting

SelkieUnderLand · 21/04/2018 17:23

The nerve of him!

I'd say no.

He sounds like Bertie Ahern

LouHotel · 21/04/2018 17:26

I would do as other posted have suggested and send her an email outlining that you do not wish to do this and to please stop asking, if your feeling brave then copy in HR.

I guarantee she will then say you got the wrong end of the stick etc...

You know that in the corporate world that bad people dont get their just desserts so i would think long term if you can stand to work for her.

InsomniacAnonymous · 21/04/2018 17:26

SelkieUnderLand the boss is female.

SelkieUnderLand · 21/04/2018 17:27

so sorry! I also assumed it was a man! I think because it sounds like an entitled request!

I think ''please stop asking'' with no explanation or justification is a good response. In this instance and a lot of other instances!

TheJoyOfSox · 21/04/2018 17:37

This is all sounds very dodgy to me.

Just be careful, you don’t want to end up being investigated for money laundering.

I’d say no.

icelollycraving · 21/04/2018 17:43

The last person for me did it?
The last person left....
You need to ask why you would? We aren’t talking a coffee,we are talking utilities etc.
Either money laundering or tax evasion, you need to cite that as very clear reasons why it is not going to be happening with you. If you had HMRC checking you out, you’d be in the shit. It looks dodgy because it is.
This clearly isn’t a temporary thing,v odd.
Is it a company Amex? I can see that going well when finance does an audit.

StripeyDeckchair · 21/04/2018 18:04

Tell him no because you don't want him and you investigated for money laundering.