Neighbour trying to benefit with tax thing

[bringthecactusin]

Apologies, don't quite know what the correct description is.

Me and next door are replacing the (invasive) ivy hedge in the garden with a fence, and going 50/50 on the cost. Neither of us can 100% remember who's boundary it is, I vaguely remember it being mine, but might have imagined it. We're not sure and very easy going, so just splitting it 50/50. (I'm happy for them to have the posh side on their side because I want the support slats on my side for fixing things to easier.)

The Neighbour joked last week I needed to remember to ask for an invoice so he could claim it on expenses by pretending it was for one of his rental properties. I just laughed it off, but he's just rang me from work to give me the address I should ask the gardener to put down on the invoice.

I don't know if I'm being too sensible and boring, but this just doesn't sit well with me. His girlfriend has already given me their half of the money in cash, and she wasn't bothered enough to mention it. I know I'm not going to get any police knocking on my door obviously, but it really goes against my morals. The Neighbour is well known for his sense of entitlement and back handers (eg, me and the other side paid to have dropped kerbs put in by the council, but he just bribed the workmen and got his front done for free). I work for the NHS and we're on our arse and it's people taking every opportunity to not pay tax that contributes. It's a real bugbear of mine.

Am I being unreasonable by refusing to ask the gardener for a fake invoice?

Or opinions on how I can explain this to my slightly intimidating neighbour? I don't feel confident because this might totally be me being an absolute wet-wipe and everyone else on the planet happily fleeces the tax man given the opportunity, and I shouldn't stand in his way. Ultimately good neighbour relations come first. I just don't know.

Thoughts?

Sensible and boring is legal, and I prefer it to facilitating tax fraud.

You're also asking the gardener to commit fraud.

I wouldn't do it, but it's an awkward conversation to have with your neighbour.

Thank you. Normally I'm a fierce advocate for being boring, it's VERY underrated 🤣 but neighbour relations just make me itchy.

Just say you want the paperwork to be correct in case of any future issues with the quality of the work done. You’ll have no comeback if the paperwork is for a different property.

Reinforce to the gardener it needs to be a receipt for the correct property incase ndn goes behind your back. Let ndn kick off.

@CaineRaine has given the perfect solution.

So he's wanting to get the workman to falsely put an address on and no doubt claim 100% of the cost even though he only paid 50% (at his own property) No I don't think so.

Just say you need it to reflect your name and the correct address in case of any issues in the future

Surely you need the correct address in the pairwise in case there are any issues with the work further down the line and you need the REAL receipt as proof of payment for the job done. You'd be depriving yourself of an important document which you might need by not having it correctly attributed to your address.
Tell him you need the correct address in it in case if future issues and your not prepared to forgothe security of this on a big job.

If an invoice is provided, ensure it's in your name and address, then you can tell him that. Although if he's that unscrupulous he may still try to use it.

They've already given you the cash, so you're paying their contribution on to the contractor anyway - why would the invoice be going to anyone other than you now?

After you've got the invoice, I would give them a copy (as they paid half) and then if he says he wants a different address, tell him to contact the contractor and ask himself, as it's nothing to do with you.

Actually saying about any issue in future, would I need to prove the price if it blew down in a storm and I needed to put in a insurance claim? That's ammo I could use to tell him.

Fucking hell, you don't need "ammo".

Just say no, I want a proper receipt for the work we've paid for and if you want your own you'll need to ask the gardener yourself.

Maybe ammo was the wrong word. Evidence. Back up. Dunno.

I'm not very confident, he'll try and talk me round and I'll be squirming so if I feel more confident about explaining when I see him if I've got practical reason to mention IN ADDITION to my morals. I'm no doubt over thinking.

You are also pretending you don't know whose fence it is when you remember it is. It is not just 'everyone else on the planet' who is dishonest.

Just say "I need to be able to sleep at night"!

Just laugh!
He'll get 20-45% tax relief on the amount depending on his tax rate.
So he basically will get his money back if it's 45% which he probably is.
He didn't think this through if he asked you to deal with it 😂.
You've organised the works, don't want to engage in fraudulent activity and will be sorting out the invoice for the correct address for warranty/insurance purposes. Then smile sweetly and hope he has a good day. Then say your phone is ringing and you need to go.

The evidence you need is that you need it to correct in case there are any issues at a later stage. You don’t need to clarify those issues because they could be in any format - insurance, installed incorrectly. It can be anything. It can even be you might want to sell in the next few years and have that paperwork for future buyers.

You’ve organised it and so in terms of protecting yourself, you need to pay the invoice and be able to prove you’ve paid it for your address.

I think you should check whose boundary it is and if it's yours pay it all yourself.

It's one thing to insist on someone else paying their share but you don't seem to want to?

But no I wouldn't be happy to ask the gardener for a fake invoice

What the actual chuff? No that's not true. I said I'm not sure and meant it.

I've got it the back of my head that while traditionally everyone owns the border on their left, in this house it's the right. But I've lived in 5 different houses so I have no idea which one that thought related to. I felt very guilty when my other neighbour on the left paid for the whole back fence to be replaced, so I gave her some money towards it because I'm sure i remember thinking it should have been my job.

I paid for the left fence at the front to be replaced myself. And the brick wall on the right at the front had my neighbours posh finial things on the end post, inducating it's actually his. We've all tried to decide at various times but between us we can't. If I knew 100% it was mine I would have no trouble talking responsibility. Ultimately it's HIS ivy coming from HIS side of whoever's fence that's climbed up the side of MY house and is eroding MY brickwork. And that's one reason he should pay towards getting the ivy taken down regardless of who's fence it destroyed and grew through.

The gardener will refuse anyway so just get it in your name and say you thought that would be ok and you’ve sent a copy to the address he gave. He will say it’s useless if it’s for the address you are at and you can say well it’s not useless to you because it’s proof if there’s any problem with the fence going forward.

You can pay £3 from the Land registry for the deeds and it will show whos boundary it is. You can do this in a matter of about two minutes. It really is important to know this information and if it’s yours just pay for it yourself. Stand firm and say you’re not going to help him commit tax fraud. Any nonsense from him all you have to say is I’ve already told you no and won’t be discussing any further and remove yourself from his presence. Cheeky bastard. I doubt the gardener would be willing to invoice the incorrect address anyway tbh.

Say you want your name and address on the on the invoice for your home insurance purposes

Cam you just tell him the gardeners will only put the correct name and address on the invoice. You and he can't expect them to falsify their records.

Why don't you just tell him that you won't be complicit in tax Evasion and dishonesty?

I had a neighbour approach me years ago for similar. When I told her that I worked in HMRC Investigations her face was a picture.

She never spoke to me again.

@bringthecactusin

Neither of us can 100% remember whose boundary it is, I vaguely remember it being mine, but might have imagined it.

Would those show up on the deeds though? If you can't find your hard copy you should be able to get a copy from the Land Registry? 🌹