To want to pay cleaner by bank transfer not cash.

[Starryskiesinthesky]

Cleaner wants paid in cash but I never have cash so would prefer to pay by bank transfer. Fact she wants cash makes me think she’s not declaring it. What do others do and do you care if they are not declaring it? £15 per hour if it makes a difference. Thanks.

I would find it irritating too. I live very rurally, don't go to the supermarket (get deliveries) and work from home. My nearest cashpoint is a 10 min drive and having to remember every time I went into a town/city is just one more bit of stress I don't want with a full on job, a side gig, two kids, a pregnancy and a house to run. If she insisted I suppose I'd get out a few hundred every couple of months and stash it somewhere in the house?

Luckily my cleaner texts at the end of each month what I owe and I transfer from my phone. Easy.

Some while ago a family member was caught out paying someone in cash and the tax people said that what he'd paid them was net pay. He ended up being sent a demand to pay the tax and NI which would have been deducted to get to that net pay figure.

This would be because HMRC deemed this person to be your family member "employee". Would never happen with a cleaner. Don't scaremonger.

Doesn't anyone on here have a partner who could go to a cash point? Or are they also too busy, can't be arsed, never leave the house etc

Whether she declares her income or not is none of your business at all. Are you a tax inspector or just a nosey person?

If you can't be bothered to pay her how she requests then she will probably move on and find a new client. Its easier to find new clients than new cleaners..... So if you want the cleaner then get organised with your cash.

I live very rurally and agree that cash is a total pain but if I had a decent cleaner then I would get on top of this issue. Remember you can get cash back from post office counters in village shops and many other shops do cash back.

Get organised.

I pay mine in cash. I just get the whole month’s money out at the start, pop it in a pot and it’s done.

You have no idea if she’s declaring or not either.

I don’t care if she declares it tbh. She’s not especially highly paid and I’m more concerned about large companies dodging taxes than a cleaner with no security.

@PooWillyNameChange

I would find it irritating too. I live very rurally, don't go to the supermarket (get deliveries) and work from home. My nearest cashpoint is a 10 min drive and having to remember every time I went into a town/city is just one more bit of stress I don't want with a full on job, a side gig, two kids, a pregnancy and a house to run. If she insisted I suppose I'd get out a few hundred every couple of months and stash it somewhere in the house?

Luckily my cleaner texts at the end of each month what I owe and I transfer from my phone. Easy.

Out of interest Do you literally never pop in to a town? Presents, post office etc

@Practicebeingpatient could you open an account with a bank that offers online cheque deposits? You could then transfer into your main account.

I'm with Halifax and they offer this. It's great not having to schlep to town when my grandad has paid me with a cheque.

I would pay her cash- it isn't my job to police the tax service- that obligation is on her, not me.

As an employee, I like my employer to be flexible where they can be ie work from home if waiting in for plumber, come in late if I have a dentist app etc.

It makes me feel ok about doing extra for my employee

So I pay my cleaner cash. It’s a little bit of a hassle for me, but my cleaner appreciates it, and she did me the most incredible favours when I was recovering from an operation

That’s a good idea. I have one account that does allow that but only a small amount each month snd I often go over it. I shall look into it. Thank you.

I have decided having a cleaner is more hassle than it’s worth so I am going to go back to doing my own!

I decided that a looong time ago. So many people on here seem to have problems with cleaners that I'd rather have a slightly messier house but no hassle.

I would always want to pay by bank transfer or card so that I have a record of my payment (and that goes for tradesmen as well).

Cas may not always be done for tax evasion.
The cleaner may have exceeded her overdraft, she may have a financially abusive husband, there are all sorts of reasons she may prefer cash.

Youd think the UK was totally cashless the way some people here are talking. While a lot of people rarely or never use cash its still a common and valid form of payment. Its not as if someone is asking to be paid in Blockbuster video vouchers, or only wanting to be contacted by calling from a public telephone box!

I find cheques really faffy. I think the last time I wrote one was about 10 years ago. I've got the app to pay them on my phone. It couldn't read the date so I had to go to the next town to pay in the bank. DH banks with barclays and their cheque paying in app is crap. Its so temperamental it probably only works for 1 in 5 cheques.

@twilightcafe

Always paid cash. It's not hard to go to a cashpoint.

Me too. We have two cash point machines where I work.

I wouldn’t pay cash just because you don’t have a record of the payment like you do with a transfer.

I haven’t gone forward with cleaners or window cleaners if they won’t take bank transfers or PayPal (same thing really), as we never have cash. We did try it once but I kept forgetting and then couldn’t get to a cash point as kids in bed and no childcare, so yeah, not for me.

It’s a faff and annoying as all groceries are delivered online, when I do go to a shop I pay using my phone, not a card, I don’t even use a handbag anymore.

So, I’d just have to look for someone else in your position.

@NativityDreaming

I wouldn’t pay cash just because you don’t have a record of the payment like you do with a transfer.

Why would you need a record of a payment to your cleaner?

What if she is trying to gather a private fund of cash do she can flee a situation?

Obviously she should declare it but I doubt she's earning over the minimum tax threshold anyway. So if she did declare it she'd have to keep her books and do tax returns and then she might think you are too much hassle.

Get the cash out once a month.

My DH is a window cleaner, and his customers pay him either cash or BACS. in some ways, BACS is easier because the money is straight there. But it also takes him hours each week tallying his bank account with his customer records - he has to remind people to make their payments, he has to check that the names are correct - some customers have their accounts in different names or they pay through joint accounts/partners account so it then is really confusing to see who has paid and who hasn't.

In contrast, when someone pays him cash, he can instantly tick on his software that the customer has paid and he doesn't need to think any more of it.

So it's not a question of trying to evade tax - its about not wanting to spend at least two-three hours each week trying to figure out if your customers have paid you or not.

It’s possible that she only has control over cash. Whether she declares it or not doesn’t reflect on you at all and it’s easy to just go to an ATM the day before you pay her.

God, just pay her cash if she wants cash

I pay mine in cash. It’s no bother.

Are you the Inland Revenue? Well then pay her how she wants paying.

So if you never pay an ice cream man with cash? A food stall? A fair ground ride? At a Christmas fete?

@DownToTheSeaAgain

I think it is fair to say that if someone insists on cash then it is highly likely they do not intend to declare any or all of it. It is up to you whether you are bothered. Technically it is theft, stealing from HMRC that funds schools, hospitals etc but that's their call not yours.

Your options are simple. Pay your cleaner they way they want or get another cleaner who accepts bank transfers.

At this level of money it is much more likely to be bad experiences with bad payers.

My cleaner insists on cash initially from new customers and permanently from bad payers. The bad payers are invariable "naice" people who think she should be totally ok with their forgetting to pay because they are just too busy to think about paying her.

I've never met a cleaner who hadn't had similar experiences. Its not cleaners on 10-15 per hour who are defunding public services - its MC higher earners and business owners who have far more opportunities to avoid paying tax.