To not want to do this?

[Thisishallowscream]

I fear I am BU.

My sister is having a kitchen done.
They have been given two prices for quotes, an off the books cash payment and on the record one. Obviously the off the books one is significantly cheaper.

Sister can't get to the bank easily as disabled and would need a taxi so has asked if she can transfer a large amount of money into my bank, me go into town and take it out cash and then take the cash to her.

I feel really uncomfortable with this and I don't know why! Part of me thinks the bank will think it odd that a large payment of money is going in for that exact amount of money to be drawn out again instantly. Part of me just doesn't want to be walking round with a large amount of someone else's cash until I can get there (which is a four bus journey)

AIBU?

No I wouldn't get involved in this at all.

She can use the money she's saving on the tax free kitchen to spend on a taxi.

My husband was a joiner and he did give people discounts for cash payments - basically the cost of the materials and his labour minus the tax. He would put a 10% mark up in the materials which is a reasonable amount.

However once someone accepted a quote he would first buy the materials and give them an invoice unless it was a very large job. Then they would need to pay for the materials - which then became their property. Then he would do the work and the final payment would be his labour costs agreed.

Do not pay all this up front.

I don't think you would be falling foul of any rules by doing any of this, neither would your sister. There's nothing wrong with your sister transfering you money etc. The bank may query it but you won't have done anything wrong so you just be honest. There's nothing stopping you giving it back to your sister but I would want her to sign a receipt for the cash.

It's none of your business what the builder does with the money once she's paid. It's up to them to declare it for tax purposes. You can just as easily be ripped off when paying by card/bank transfer, especially if you pay in advance. When we had building work done, we paid in installments as the work was completed so I'd encourage her to do this to reduce the risk.

Honestly, I'd advise her against the 'off the books' option. A company willing to avoid tax on that size of job would be a no no for me. Also, where is her proof that she actually paid them?

If she’s giving you a large sum of money, is this a classed as a gift? You could fall foul of inheritance tax if anything were to happen to her.

i would also avoid.

https://www.money.co.uk/guides/how-do-i-gift-money-without-being-taxed

Absolutely not OK, OP - please do not be a party to any of this. And tell her she needs to pay the proper price, not the cash one. Actually, I would be changing builder/company completely and not using one who thinks it's OK to evade tax.

I agree with these points and wanted to add what if the sister is burgled just before she is due to pay the kitchen fitter?

She wouldn't be getting her money back.

If she has any issue with this builder she would not be able to sue as the basic contract would be classed as an "illegal one".

Avoid.

How much money are you talking about?

Advise her to find another builder. The "cheaper price for cash " thing us really dodgy, and gives her no protection whatsoever.

If she goes with off the record price what would happen about guarantee and if the workmanship was iffy? Would a casher cause problems.

There's nothing illegal about paying cash but I'd want contracts, payment schedules, invoices and receipts. If the builder was supplying materials rather than just an odd job person Id question if there wasn't VAT on the invoice and I would make sure they specified that any price was vat inclusive so that they couldn't come back to me for missing vat at a later date.