Hairdresser asking me to pay in cash

[Sally3490]

I've been going to my hairdressers for about 10 years. It's quite pricey £160 for full highlights and a cut (London). When I was last in they asked if I would pay in cash in future. The ATM is on route so in theory I could, but it adds some level of inconvenience and I'd rather not be carrying that amount of cash with me. But also, I feel it's damn cheeky. They are charging alot of money and should be paying their taxes. AIBU?

So go somwhere else then?
You might be shooting yourself in the foot
Only you can decide

But sorting cash takes time and banks do charge businesses for banking cash. It could be a tax issue or it could be that they are near their VAT threshold, which is a slightly different tax issue.

Everyone will care if the internet collapses or there was a financial cyberattack.
We must keep some cash in circulation.
I have a jar of euro coins. I withdraw €200 weekly for shopping etc and throw the leftovers in my cash jar, there is probably less than a 100 but it’d cover the basics.
The people with the penny jar would be selling the change for a fortune.
Besides the transaction is rang up in the till, a tax auditor would spot the difference, you can’t delete till transactions.

Unless you're suggesting we keep thousands of pounds in cash then it's not going to be much help in a total breakdown of financial systems. I have about £300 in cash and about the same in euros in my house. This is because I never use it and occasionally get given it for various reasons.

Are you imagining a scenario where no banking can occur but Tesco still take cash? Who would be there to serve you at the till given nobody at Tesco can now get paid?

My post was exaggerated. If I had a spare 300 untouched laying around for funz it would be better than 100 that it took a few months to build.
My point was that cash is important for many reasons.
I believe the world would be more vulnerable if it became obsolete.
I think Tesco would be long looted if such an event happened so using a card/cash would be a moot point.

It’s happened loads of times in my store. Card machines go down or certain banks have a glitch so it’s cash only. People walk out because they don’t carry cash but there’s nothing we can do if it’s not working. It doesn’t have to be for days, even a few hours causes a massive disruption and it happens a lot more than people realise. I always carry some cash for this very reason, I got caught out once and couldn’t even buy a drink in work so I had to borrow some money from a colleague.

Well indeed. I routinely draw cash to pay small businesses and for just such emergencies as I’ve see the chaos when WiFi doesn’t work and banking systems are hacked.

It should be entirely possible to run a small business in cash and still pay your tax if you choose to do business that way.

i know our banking systems want to go cashless (and thought we would be by now but people are resistant to it) as it’s far cheaper for them not to have to deal with cash.
many people are rightfully wary about how vulnerable the banking system is to hacks, collapses and so on.
also worth remembering that our international banking system isn’t backed with anything other than faith - that’s all money is ultimately.

it only works if we all believe it works.
thats why generationally rich people generally have their money invested in tangible assets like property.

I can remember when we switched over from card imprint machines to electronic - it did cost an absolute fortune then and was liable to problems (busy lines as the machine was connected via a phone line) so we kept the manual system running alongside for years and still took cheques and a lot of cash.
at some point this prudence was abandoned.

money as a concept can disappear in the blink of an eye then we’re back to cold hard barter values

Why does it bother you so much?

Yes I was caught like this when I took a taxi from station to parents (normally used a close station then walked but bad back necessitated a faster journey).

luckily parents had some cash.

never had this in London though.
I always check if I’m out in the ‘burbs.

If all it takes is card payments to ruin a small business then they were in quite a precarious position to start with.

Dh's hairdresser told him flat out that she prefers to be paid in cash by customers she know because tax ans col. Dh has no problem with it but I find it very disturbing.

I pay cash for everything in a retail setting. I walk out/don't buy if it is 'card only'.

Because it's using the system without contributing 🤷‍♀️

Good! I very much hope that we lose it sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed! P

Never paid card (even though she has a card machine) as my hairdresser would have to pay fees. I pay cash or BACS.

This - businesses have to pay a fee to deposit cash into a bank account.

Of course it's tax evasion. I'd either say no it's not convenient and if they insist then vote with your feet.

I pay my hairdresser cash. It is a legal form of payment. How she handles her tax affairs is no business of mine.

My DH always paid tax on any earning, he is fastidious and declares everything to the penny, It was his customers, especially those in the big expensive houses that always asked how much for cash when he quoted for a job. It is not always taxi drivers, hairdressers and cleaners that try to pay as little tax as they can.

The wi-fi went down in our big sainsburys a while ago so they could only process cash transactions. I always carry cash and try to use it in high street stores as it helps my budgeting and they (usually) arent avoiding tax. But I won't pay cash for trades or small businesses.

How do they set up charges for bank fees?
Where i am it's illegal to offer different prices for different payment methods

I pay my hairdresser in cash always have… she doesn’t want to pay the card fees, she is a solo hairdresser in a small salon, I see it as a perfectly reasonable request.

My hairdresser for years ran a cash only salon. They do accept cards now though. It’s unusual. Have they said why? And why you specifically ? Just say no it’s not convenient if they still accept other payment.

But paying cash into a business account also incurs charges. Not to mention having to go out of your way to actually bank the cash (they all seem to be closing where I am).

A business that insisted on cash-only payments would be losing me as a customer. It's extremely inconvenient for me, and - at the very least- makes me suspicious re their proper declaration of income.

Why?