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?

He'll get 20-45% tax relief on the amount depending on his tax rate.

Can you claim if it is your main residence? Or only if it is a rental?

You can claim it on the rental as a repair or if not as a capital expense when you sell it. Depending if the fence is a dramatic improvement.
Can't claim anything in your own house, hence the invoice to the rental property.

No way should you knowingly help generate a fake invoice, it's fraud.
If he was obsessed with ripping off some scheme then it should have been he who organised the gardener and thus ask him to invoice him how he wished. As a dishonest sounding landlord surely he has a network of dodgy folk working for him. You would have had no part in it. What an arrogant prick thinking others will happily help him do his dirty work. You have their half of the money, just pay the gardener and ignore this person's attitude.

I’d ask gardener to put your/ neighbour address on invoice and forward them a copy. If he needs anything changed he can contact gardener who should refuse.

Your neighbour is part of the reason why everyone needs to pay as much tax as they do. I think his suggestion is disgusting.

@bringthecactusin get someone to do it cash in hand! no tax for her to claim back

Surely the person doing the work supplies an invoice with the details of the work on it, including the address the work was carried out at.

So it arrives in your hand with the correct address on it, nothing to do with you, if NDN doesn't like it he can do his tax fraud on his own.

I'm a gardener and I was asked to do something very similar once,for one of my regular customers. I refused as I wasn't willing to commit fraud to facilitate their greed. I think that they were surprised,but never mentioned it again.

I would just say the workman refused to change the invoice address as this is where the work was completed.

Yes this. If a different address is on the invoice, even if the workman agreed to do this, there is no come back if the fence is not put up properly. I'd just say no you want correct paperwork.

The only way you can tell who owns or has responsibility for a boundary fence is if a) there are T marks on the plans, or b) you know who paid for it last time. Otherwise it's considered a shared boundary and you have equal responsibility to the boundary (not the fence). There's no obligation to fence in your land - although people like to - which is how you end up with two layers of fencing where someone has covered up their neighbour's crap decrepit fence by putting their own one up just on their side of the boundary.

If the neighbour's house was built in the last 40 years or so it may have T markings on the deeds but otherwise shared cost is the way most reasonable people sort it out.

Also, just tell your neighbour the gardener said no.

As it was tipping it down last night I didn't go over, and he didn't come knocking either.

I have downloaded his title register and it refers to letter T's (Thank you @LBOCS2!) on the plan but doesn't actually show them. However there has been an extra NB. paragraph added at the end which actually specifies its the Northern boundary.

So @Terrrence and @ilovebreadsauce , who decided I knew full well it was my responsibility and was out to fleece NDN and rip him off for half a fence while gleefully rubbing my hands together......its HIS boundary fence. I will still happily be paying half. Because that's what his girlfriend and I agreed.