Would you still pay tax if you could get away with not paying it?

[Uneasyy]

NC for this.

My lovely friend is currently making thousands a week in a cash-in-hand job.

She’s happy, genuinely happy and living her best life. However she dropped into conversation the other day that she got no grants/furlough or anything over lockdown as she’s never put anything through the system.

I didn’t really know how to feel. On one hand it’s none of my business whatsoever, on the other - This situation has made me scared for our economy and future prospects and it’s made me feel uneasy about her as a person.

She said she’d lose thousands through tax and it would be pretty impossible for her to get caught.

So I wonder, if were 100% sure you wouldn’t get caught, would you still choose to pay tax?

AIBU to think that I still would?

I wouldn’t run the risk of paying no tax at all but I know a lot of people who pay tax on their main job and do cash in hand on the side and have done for years and have never been caught. They have the attitude that if they are showing as paying tax then why would they get found out for the extra stuff?

Personally, I would probably do the same because I already feel like I pay loads out in tax. I wouldn’t not pay ANY tax though!

So is money going through her bank at all? Does she have any other employment at all? If she was caught, what would she say? She's really stupid to not declare anything and to have no other employment.

HMRC aren’t stupid, it will bite her on the arse at some point. Hope she’s ready for the £1800 a year (plus interest) penalties.

Seriously, what does she do?

I would pay tax, one because it’s the right thing to do and pays for education nhs etc and two because I would be scared of getting caught

I would also be reporting your friend

I don't earn enough to pay tax but I do everything I can to avoid tax avoiding companies (ie amazon). So I try and pay back in that way.

Ha. No. I wouldn't. Wait. Sorry! I forgot to pretend I obviously would!😱

However, as pp pointed out, HMRC aren't dumb... It will come back to her

Yes I think it's important to fund the country collectively and I don't see why I shouldn't contribute

As Trump said

What ? Pay tax ? Am I some sort of loser ?

I claim tax credits so maybe different to your friend, but even applying for say a passport or anything to do with my kids I always have to put in my NI number. Surely she will be found out?

Yep I'm newly self employed from Feb so not eligible for any help from covid schemes. But I'll still be doing my tax return. I'm freelance and could easily not declare my income but then I'd also have no national insurance contributions. Aside from that it's massively unethical.

Yes, contributing to a better NHS, infrastructure and education for all is more I portent than a few quid in my back pocket.

I don’t know the ins and outs of what she does, I know that she goes to fancy places with rich men basically. I think she’s essentially an escort.
I’m not sure about the rest of it, or how she appears to HMRC, she previously did something in an office, I think in accounts so just a ‘normal’ job.

I wouldn’t report her but I’m definitely questioning our friendship. I was more curious if most people would do the same in her situation, but clearly not!

Also if she's bragging about not paying tax it's not that hard to imagine how she could get caught. Very stupid of her.

Yes I would but I would do what everyone from the Queen downward does and employ a good accountant to reduce my tax bill

Living her best life lol.

What a bag of wank, she's a tax dodger.

Jobs that pay thousands of pounds every week in cash where nobody knows your real name or have your bank details:

High end Sex worker
Drug dealer
Money launder
Gangster

Struggling to think of a legitimate one tbh

This makes me so angry. I earn a few grand a year on top of my day job (thanks to the Make £10 a day thread on here) and I have just submitted my tax return and paid hundreds of pounds in tax. There's probably very little chance of me being caught but I paid BECAUSE THAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I wish we could choose where we want our tax to go. I want my tax to support the NHS, child protection services, schools, emergency services and road services (not just keeping the road councellor live on perfect) I'd love a checklist getting posted out where you put your NI number and tick where you want your money distributed and maybe not allow it to fully control it but to weight the distribution of our taxes where the working population want it to go.

But no, I could get away without paying tax, but I pay a shit tonne, primarily because I dread the idea of losing our NHS.

If she's not declaring her income is she also claiming benefits?

Oh god she can keep her money

She's fucking dirty strange men, literally the worst/most dangerous job for a woman

She has a very short shelf life and she'll need the money for therapy after

I have nothing but pity for her (and I happily pay all my tax as a self employed person)

I was a self employed sex worker for years and I paid tax, and declared all of my earnings, because I'm not a hypocritical selfish twat.

It’s very likely she will get caught eventually. Someone at DPs work was doing the same thing (stupid when your face is all over the website ) and got caught. It wasn’t pretty and I think the fine she ended up with was much more than she would have paid in tax

She has a very short shelf life and she'll need the money for therapy after

I was constantly told this, for years, by people who knew nothing about it. It's not necessarily true. She will need the money for the tax bill if she carries on like this though!

She’s happy, genuinely happy and living her best life

Thousands a week. Even as a "high class escort", there's only one way she's literally making thousands a week - She's a Dubai porta potty.

She's really not living her best life, getting shit on by rich men.

Hope she's investing her cash wisely. Urgh.