To change my mind when he asked for payment in cash?

[Wardrobefred]

I wanted some work done in my garden. I know I should get 3 quotes, but I just wanted it done. Price was £1200 and he could start the following week so I accepted it.

Then he asked for a deposit to "secure the date" which seemed a bit much when he clearly wasn't turning down other work! I was going to agree, just to get the job done, it was £50 by bank tf. Then he said he'd want the rest in cash on the day of completion "so he could pay the men". TBH it never occurred to me anyone would want that much in cash and it certainly wasn't mentioned when we were discussing price.

I said I'm not comfortable getting out £1200 in cash, which I'm not. It's a faff because you have to go to the bank and then walk across town carrying it. So he said pay half in cash, which still presents the same issues. By this time I was thinking my quick decision to give him the work was a bit rash, so I said I'd decided to take more time to think about it.

I'm now on the local FB page as a timewaster...

Personally I have no issue paying cash and don’t care small time trades are dodging tax. The mega rich dodging tax are the big problem and the government does fuck all about that while trampling all over the people at the bottom just trying to improve their lives a bit. It’s one rule for the rich (or no rule to be more realistic), and one much harsher rule for the rest of us. I’ll worry about people paying tax when the government enforces it for everyone's not just those at the bottom of the ladder.

How silly! We had a big job done by one guy, it took 16 full days. It was £5k and we paid him cash. The quote from a large, well known firm, for the same job was £10k. He did a FANTASTIC job. He is a perfectionist.

Most of my customers pay me in cash. I pay my taxes. It's so much easier, because they pay me on the day, job done. People paying by bank transfer often "forget" to pay, and it's a right faff monitoring my bank account and chasing people for payment. Interestingly, it's always the posh people with plenty of money that drag their feet when it comes to paying me.

Cash is king.

Why do you think casual labourers are paid in cash?
I very much doubt they're filling in their tax returns with all the details of what they've been paid!

THE SMALL TRADES DODGING TAX ARE THE PROBLEM.

60% of unpaid tax comes from small businesses. 5% of unpaid tax comes from the mega rich.

If we stopped the mega rich “dodging” tax we would recover an extra £2.3bn in tax admittedly, but that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the extra £28bn we would recover if small businesses paid the right tax.

Be angry at the right people and accept that you are part of the biggest part of the issue if you are facilitating cash payments to traders.

(PS my job is to help the mega rich with their tax affairs, I know as a fact most of them are paying their way in line with tax laws).

Ha! £5000 cash , I'd like to see how you get that out of the bank without a load of hassle
and questioning do you keep it under the mattress?

If the guy was legitimate, he would of offered a bank transfer, not demanded cash in 2025. Cash only if it suits both parties.

Most of the time these days, tradespeople won't accept cash any more.

How often do we see posts from a single mum who is getting chuff all from the dad because he is getting paid cash and isn't declaring it. I bet stuffing the ex is an even bigger incentive than the tax man for some.

It's hard to know where to start with this and I really can't be bothered other than to say you are wrong. Very wrong. Take that chip of your shoulder and open your eyes because if you say that out loud in real life, you're going to look pretty stupid.

You are very naive if you think most people asking for cash declare all of their earnings to HMRC or to the DWP as a lot will be claiming UC too. Yes cash is legal tender but dodging tax and benefit fraud is not and affects us all.

I’d be happy to listen to your argument, but as you’ve stated you’re not willing to give your argument, you just want to go with the personal insults instead, I shall go ahead and ignore you. Have a good rest of your day 🙂

I only have cash so I pay all tradesmen in cash, I’m not bothered if they pay tax or not. Tbh people work hard for very little after the the government have got their grubby hands on them. If me paying cash to a tradesman means he can take his family on holiday or buy his kids uniform then I’m happy to have helped.

Pay cash - get 20% off.

Where do you think the money to pay for hospitals, schools etc comes from? La-la land? It's from TAXES.
Are you also not bothered about having hospitals? Or schools?

Tax Inspector here. It doesn’t mean with absolute certainty that this individual won’t be paying tax but it is a strong indicator for me because it often indicates income suppression.

A good friend, who I thought was a very intelligent person, paid £12k cash for some kitchen refurb work

They did it for a cheaper price, to a tradesman that was obvioulsy a tax dodger.

Two things happened

1. The bank basically interviewed them and they had to lie through their teeth as to why they need £12k in cash. Think about it, nobody needs £12k in cash for legitimate reasons. It's either to pay a scammer or a tax dodger.
2. They got burgled about two months later. Probably unconnected but if a tradesman is prepared to break the law by defrauding HMRC, chances are they no some ' characters' down the pub and word might have got around.

Exactly!!! So he takes a £50 deposit by bank transfer and won’t allow the final payment by bank transfer. It is def a tax dodge. I would def respond to his comment on FB

And is he paying NI for his labourers? Are they paying tax? Are they working legally? Does he have the correct insurances?

These businesses are tax fraud situations

Yeah it does. Not at all a myth.

This is as good as the tradesman who asked me for cash, at the same time as saying he can’t get a gp appt for a sick line.

Do you not pay tax yourself? If you do are you happy to contribute more than your fair share so others don't have to?

OP I agree with those who say to leave a measured response saying you withdrew when he refused payment of the full sum in any form other than cash. And possibly leave your own review for him on any appropriate trade page.

It's not a myth its a fact. But up to the person paying. Gardener should have been upfront about wanting cash before any deposit or agreement was made. If OP doesn't want to pay cash that's her right.

That's hardly a huge amount. He should've been clear it was a cash price upfront, but I don't see why you'd have an issue given its paid on completion

You are not unreasonable about the cash.

My dh is a tradesperson and YBVVU about the deposit though. Honestly I wish my dh would take them. We get screwed all. the. time.

Used a garden clearance firm who wanted cash, it was fine. The tax issues are their concern.

I had a plumber ask me for cash on completion once, it was only £1500 but I was acting on behalf of someone else with POA so I simply refused. He didn’t mention it when he quoted me or I would have said then obviously. He had no choice but to accept the bank transfer.

Round my way, it usually means precisely that.

I'm avoiding a certain firm because I need a guarantee for the work done. They wanted 'cash in hand' for a lower price.

I had another firm do work for me. They wanted to know whether it was "an insurance job" because "obviously, then, it [would] be dearer" than if I were paying them.