AIBU to refuse to pay cash in hand?

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This recently came up in conversation with a friend and she disagreed with me.

I generally avoid hiring anyone who asks to be paid cash in hand. I don’t see how cash is more convenient these days unless it’s to avoid tax, benefits rules, etc., and I don’t want to be involved. I also rarely carry cash and getting to a cash machine is inconvenient.

Last year I stopped using a regular gardener when he suddenly asked for cash only, despite there being no payment issues (I always transferred the money on the day he’d done the work). My friend thinks I’m being ridiculous and that it’s none of my concern how people run their business. AIBU?

I had a couple of workmen who said it’s £££ price but if you pay in cash it’s £££. That’s most definitely a tax dodge.

Who says she has to bank it? She can pay other people in cash also. It's worrying that some people on here want to almost encourage a cashless society. I
I find it amazing at how many 7 year olds can understand cash these days. Simply as lack of opportunity to handle it

I’ll happily pay cash if it means a good discount. Doing us both a favour 😊 can’t get upset about one individual making a couple of extra £100 on top of all they do declare when companies like Amazon screw is out of millions of tax contributions

Ok how many people are likely to be setting up bank transfers an the front desk of the takeaway ? Especially if it's not one they use regularly

Generally if someone wants cash you won't get an invoice. That may not matter for garden work (other than tree surgery) but for building work it can be more important to show that work has been done and to the correct standards.

But it’s not an FU to the government, it’s a FU to all of us.

Um, thanks plumbers I guess.

My mechanic prefers cash. I get an invoice and guarantee for the work. What's the issue?

If you think Amazon are tax evaders please do contact HMRC. By the way they aren’t.

Well I know that. Was a reply to the cash being " essential" only for stuff like county lines etc. Cash is used for perfect legal stuff also

Oh I see, agreed. Apologies.

but we can move to a non-cash economy quite easily by running an internal accounting system at things like car boot sales / school fairs with tallying up and paying by card at the exit. I think that’s the way things will move in the future as cash is so heavily associated with so many crimes.

No, an ISA is not considered tax avoidance - here’s what HMRC says:

Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended. It often involves contrived, artificial transactions that serve little or no purpose other than to produce a tax advantage.

Tax avoidance is not the same as tax planning. Tax planning involves using tax reliefs for the purpose for which they were intended. For example, claiming tax relief on capital investment, saving in a tax-exempt ISA or saving for retirement by making contributions to a pension scheme are all legitimate forms of tax planning. While such actions may reduce the total amount of tax paid, they are not tax avoidance, because they involve using tax reliefs in the way that Parliament intended when it passed the relevant legislation.

www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/avoidance-handling-process/ahp1300

I have no issues paying cash in hand and have had close friends do so for all range of things for me.

Recently someone grazed my car whilst I was in the supermarket and fucked off without leaving a note. So do I put this through my insurance and suffer an increase on my insurance premium, or do I get my close friend to repair it cash in hand, as if the incident never occurred?

Their business, not yours. What they do with their finances is up to them, it's not going to come back on you!
Many people work for cash for various reasons, although mainly for tax avoidance reasons. However if it saves me a few quid, then I'm not arguing. Got a guy at my house right now, fixing my car- he's knocked the price down by £210 because I'm paying cash. It's an expensive job in the first place, so I'm not questioning it....

It is absolutely none of your business how people manage their money. People who are trying to climb out of an overdraft might want cash in hand, consider that before you assume someone is avoiding paying taxes etc which again, is none of your business.

It IS fair for you to pay them in a way that conveniences you. If they suddenly ask you to change that, you have a right to say no. That's it.

You're actually inconveniencing her. She has to bank that cash. Its considerably easier for businesses to trade cash-free, (which is why we are increasingly seeing businesses refusing cash). It's a myth that it's more expensive for businesses to take cards.

I don't think I am

She pays a transaction fee on each card transaction so to my kind ends up with less cash

She quite likes the cash I give her (btw we are talking £20-25) as she uses it for parking or for her daughters school lunches (primary school) or teenage babysitter

I am afraid it is the world we live in. Cash in hand.

The numbers of self employed people have apparently rocketed. Which will reduce tax receipts. Which impact on us all.

And self employed people will ( if they have good sense) ensure they factor in absences like holidays in quotes over the course of time.

It is a culture shift from a time when many were employees. And the tax office could rely on PAYE.

By refusing to pay cash you are being upstanding but limiting your options of people who will do work for you.

Its your choice but its also none of your business how other people decide to take payment
I don't like paying cash as its not as convenient and I have to go to a cash machine to get it but thats the only reason
DS's driving instructor changed to cash only as they were getting charged for every transaction by their bank and its a pain to get cash for each one (plus DS keeps the £3 change each time ) but if it makes their lives easier then fine. If I don't like it I can go elswhere

Including me as I am a taxpayer.

Far play to anyone who can pay less tax.

Amen. The people who run the country dodge taxes and piss away our taxes on all the wrong things. Yet OP is living by this naiive moral code of never using anyone requesting cash in hand. I understand for large jobs of not leaving yourself vulernable, should something go wrong and there's potentially a lack of traceability. But for small jobs with someone who has a good rep, I wouldn't have an issue one bit.

@SabrinaThwaite Thanks for that! It's always good to get the facts and to be given a reliable source. I stand corrected (and a bit embarrassed that I didn't know this before!)

I'm a primary teacher, and I know a LOT of teachers, myself included, who offer private tuition, cash in hand. I don't know of any family who have objected to that. None of them are stupid, they all know we're doing it in the evenings as a little extra to help pay for things like activities for our own kids, holidays, etc.

It would be two-faced of me to object to anyone else doing the same thing.

Why is it 'fair play' when they are doing something illegal that means that you have to pay more tax? Surely, that's entirely unfair.

In what way does getting cash in hand help someone climb out of an overdraft?

Haha, no…my skills are largely excel based and I highly doubt anybody would pay me cash for that. If you want some forecasting models then let me know. My point is, people charge a lot for services you can’t do specifically because you can’t do them, if you don’t want to pay their fees then do it yourself. . If you were paying attention you’ll see I responded to your question of why people charge so much for services.

Not entirely true that someone paying less tax is doing it illegally and thus everyone else pays more tax.

For example, I used to pay my monthly pension contributions after tax and NI was deducted. Then it was pointed out I could pay pension contributions via salary sacrifice (i.e. tax and NI taken after my pension contributions come out).

The result is I pay less tax, I pay less NI, my company pays less NI. I have more take home pay. I am paying less tax but perfectly legal.

Morally though it's one of these loop holes created to benefit employers into paying less tax and to a lesser extent the employee.

Not all companies offer a salary sacrifice scheme. So is it fair that I pay less tax than those that don't have an option to use salary sacrifce? No it probably isn't fair. But it's legal and I'd be absolutely stupid to decline this option and have less take home pay each month.

Keep your moral high ground, because I'm doing what benefits me and my family first and foremost.