AIBU to be so sick of tradespeople/ cleaners asking for cash in hand?

[Endlesspasswords]

So my cleaner charges £21/hour cash, but just said she wants more if I pay by bank transfer, because bank transfer means she can’t dodge declaring it. As if paying by transfer (i.e. traceably) is some kind of favour/ privilege I should pay extra for.

Same with some work I got a quote for- it’s the attitude that if I don’t want to pay in cash, I’m the one ‘hurting’ their bank balance or being awkward.

I’m freelance B2B myself. No sick pay, no employer pension contributions, no paid holiday, I know exactly what it’s like to carry your own tax and NI. But I still pay tax on every invoice, because that’s the deal.

I’m so sick with the fact that self-employed people in one sector get to treat tax as optional while others pay for their healthcare, schools etc.

and yes, I’m getting a new cleaner.

We have a limited company and our business bank (Nat West) charges us for each BACS direct debit, Automated payment and others are all at 35p each. So it can add up.

I think ppl should start standing up to these people more. They are the whingeing Farage voters , who moan about benefit scroingers whilevfiddling the system massively themselves. What a huge hypocritical.joke these people are. They need taking down a peg or two.

I agree. They probably do declare transactions, but a lot of them, like barbers salons, are laundering dirty money by putting it through the business as cash transactions. Then again you also have the respectable high street businesses like Boots, who avoid tax by registering their business in an office block in Luxembourg. I refuse to use Boots since I found this out. They aren’t the only ones, but they are my personal fight back against corporate greed.

Government is taking too much tax already, I think its fair that they want to be able to bring home some of the fruit of their own labour rather than just paying into this black hole. Why not? They are working bloody hard for it. If the work is not something that you need guarantee then why not

I had the same with NatWest. Really adds up if you are a small trader with many small transactions.

That seems fair to me. They are providing you with a secure service meaning your money is safe, not stuffed in Tesco carrier bags under your bed, you have accurate records, can move money safely between accounts, deal efficiently with other financial needs in your company like payroll , NI, pension payments. Sounds like a bargain. What else can you get for 35p?

I wonder how many women they’ve met who do cleaning as a job. It seems at odds with the reality.

Women in crappy relationships may want cash to squirrel away to avoid it being spotted in a universal credit bank check.

This wasn't a thing with tax credits as it was only interest on savings that counted. They'd have needed a lot of savings for it to trigger that threshold.

So you are saying that stealing from HMRC is ok as long as you’ve decided it’s fine because you work hard?

What about people on payrolls? They don’t get the choice to lie about what they earn.

But they sre jusy burden others with cash. They must have used a bank to pay utilities , rent etc

But amongst these people - there will be a substantial group who are paying no tax....

So no contributions for schools/NHS....

I've always considered anyone who does 'cash in hand' for any one beyond a friend/ relative is taking the piss.

My DP is a tradesmans and him and his mates do all sorts of cash in hand and benefits in kind for each other. One of his mates is coming over after work tomorrow to change the cam belt in my car using DP dads ramp, and parts I've purchased myself, and DP labouring for him - I will pay him cash in hand, but that's a favour for a mate.

But doing cash in hand for customers found via normal marketing is taking the piss, also it's surely risky as these customers owe them nothing and could easily stich them up to HMRC if they are unsatisfied in any way.

Yes, I am not complaining. The bank is a business.

We don't do a lot of small cost payments though - so I can see why some places, for example the local chippy will insist on a minimum spend on a card to make it worthwhile for them.

I honestly think this is the main reason it's done - I know of two seemingly decent men who have done this since they got divorced. Both had fairly successful small businesses, now telling their exes they can't get work, no money coming in, bare mimimum child benefit... but have massive SUVs and nice holidays. It's a fucking scam.

£90k taxable sales, NOT profit. That means if your tradesman sources stuff like paint, or kitchen appliances for you then the cost to him comes out of his profit but still counts towards his taxable sales when he sells them to you. He will also have to pay for any tools, insurance, the fuel, upkeep and depreciation for his van which will all come out of his profit. He will be very unlikely to be clearing £90k per year!
I don't disagree about paying cash in hand though, most tradesmen we use ask for bank transfer.

The UK is actually a relatively low/medium tax country, certainly not high at all. Taxes pay for things we ALL need - so unless you're using private schools, private healthcare including A&E, have your own fire engine and drive only on private roads, you can pay your fair share like everyone else.

I thought the question was AIBU to be sick of tradespeople asking for cash in hand?

This sector, and one-man-bands in particular, is well known for tax avoidance, hence the question.. but somehow people are making it out to be demonisation of cash and a big hurrah for digital currency.

It's demonisation of indicators of tax avoidance... so if your moral compass is oriented by flavours of whataboutery like "well, why should I pay tax if Amazon use loopholes?", you might be part of the problem in varying degrees.

The character of a person is defined by what choice do you make when you have the opportunity to break the law / do something highly immoral that benefits you, with low to no risk of ever being caught?.

Depends on your personal value system really, if that solely revolves around pots of gold, that explains why we are were were as a 'society'

My partner is self employed, he prefers cash, but also takes bank transfers. but he has the same price for both. he declares every penny.

the only problem with bank transfers is he need to wait few days sometimes before he gets paid (some costumers need to be reminded several times)
when cash is now and then

I pay cash for everything. I avoid paying tax myself, so I can't judge.

How much is a female self employed cleaner going to earn a year? It’s not going to be much to live on.

YANBU.

If a tradesmen suggests "cash in hand" to avoid VAT, I won't use them. Simples.

If they're dishonest when it comes to paying tax, then they're probably going to be dishonest with other things, such as cutting corners, using poor quality materials, doing unnecessary work, charging for work not done, etc etc.

It's becoming an epidemic and it's not just small amounts either. We needed full house scaffolding and were quoted £2k-£3k by several firms (all well known local reputable ones). 2 of them offered to do it VAT free for cash - these were well known big local firms! When a neighbour crashed into our car, we got a couple of bodyshops to quote - £3k worth of work - both offered to do it VAT free for cash - again, not "dodgy Dave" from under the railway arches, but proper reputable insurance approved bodyshops! Last week, phoned a shed supplier to ask about a new shed roof cost - they openly quoted, over the phone, VAT free cash prices.

HMRC need to get a grip. Back in the 80s when I started work in accountancy, Inland Revenue and HMCE were all over small business accounts, doing regular "books" checks, etc and it acted as a massive deterrent. These days, since the ridiculous and useless mergers of the different tax depts, HMRC simply don't check anywhere near enough and as the years pass, the tradesmen realise they're not being properly monitored so slip further into tax evasion etc. as they know they'll get away with it.

If you want protection for the work being done, usually thousands of pounds worth, I would rather download an app than trust someone who may not be even paying taxes.

@Periperi2025

But doing cash in hand for customers found via normal marketing is taking the piss, also it's surely risky as these customers owe them nothing and could easily stich them up to HMRC if they are unsatisfied in any way.

HMRC ignore the vast majority of reports re small business tax evasion. I'm an accountant and we're legally bound to make reports to the National Crime Agency of money laundering (which includes tax evasion), since the laws came in around 20 years ago. I've made dozens of reports over the past two decades and none, zilch, have been acted upon. It's all just data gathering for statistics etc rather than any actual action being taken.

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And if she doesn't turn up she would loose her job and have it given to someone else. You can't do that if a tradesman is halfway through a job.