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.

Then move to a bank that offers free business banking or cheaper transactions. There are several options for "online" only business current accounts that don't have bank charges for electronic transactions. Nothing to stop you having two bank accounts, one free for electronic transactions, so that you can minimise non electronic transactions through the bank that charges. Lots of businesses do that.

He had a turnover of over 90k rather than an income.

I see hairdressers and some cafes with signs saying they prefer cash because of the transaction fees but I'm not walking around with over £100 in my pocket for my balayage.

I get it but just raise your prices to cover those fees.

With a bank transfer though, they're not even losing anything to transaction fees. That's got to be a tax dodge and that's gross. It's an inconvenience these days to get cash out. I don't get paid in cash, I don't have cash lying around, why should I have to have the exact money to hand because a cleaner doesn't want to declare all her taxes? Or the garage won't be honest with their books?Absolutely not.

I've got a lot of work going on in my house this year and it's all bank transfers so there's a paper trail of exactly what's been paid and when. I want my trades people to be paid properly, I want to pay for their skills and time and materials and so on. It's not cheap and it's been a pain in the arse but if he'd asked for cash in hand I'd have told him to jog on and found a proper person to do the job.

All that said, I do recognise that we shouldn't have a completely cashless society and that people should be able to buy things with cash. Not for any conspiracy theory reasons, but more because many learning disabled adults only have access to cash or prefer to use cash, children should be able to use cash not a bank card, I know some partially sighted people who prefer to use cash, and so on. But that's about choice and accessibility, that's nothing to do with tax or transaction fees.

Final thing - what do these anti-tax people think the money for public services come from? NHS, education, social care etc - are they just so selfish that they're happy for the rest of us to pay for all that while they count their piles of money? Grow up and show up.

81% agree with you OP
If that’s standard for the population and everyone reported those who asked for cash we’d have less of a problem and more people paying their taxes

Report them all to HMRC
you can do it anonymously

I totally agree with you OP! I'm contemplating whether to report someone at the moment. What makes me particularly mad in the case I'm thinking about, is their overly entitled attitude when they have loads of money and an affluent lifestyle.

Because the rest of us mugs on PAYE are subsidising them through our (equally hard earned) taxes.

Is your preference to just ban the use of cash in society?

Meh, I don't give a shit. Cleaners and those on low wages trying to maximise on the little they earn is not a big deal to me. I will never report a cleaner, what a shit you'd have to be.

Just stop buying from Amazon.

It is astonishing ignorant and, quite frankly, comes from a place of privilege, to accuse a cleaner of tax dodging just because they prefer cash. Please RTT for all of the legitimate reasons why some people prefer to be paid in cash (which is a completely lawful means of payment).

The country is in such a message. We need everyone who should be paying tax to do their bit.

The less money the thieving bastard government get the better. They even steal half your money when you’re dead. Always pay cash.

.

My DiL’s ex is self-employed and since their recent split has been paying child maintenance based on his declared wage - which is well below what we know to be the true figure. Accepting cash in hand terms is just encouraging shit dads to shirk their responsibilties even more.

Agree re reporting a cleaner who is probably struggling to survive on what they make. What a thing to do.

There are more reasons for going by the book than paying cash. The country’s in a mess. Everyone should be paying their way, regardless of whether they agree with how it’s being spent.

I'm detecting cinnamon and vanilla-notes of ragebait, mixed with smoked oak

or perhaps its coming from that raging fire in your candy store that never has customers

Yep. More commonly known as eau de shitstirrer !!

Brightens up a thread every now and then.

what do these anti-tax people think the money for public services come from? NHS, education, social care etc - are they just so selfish that they're happy for the rest of us to pay for all that while they count their piles of money?

Yes its very selfish for people like me who are child free to be paying for your subs and handouts and facilities for your kids - facilities which we do not want and cannot use. 22% of my council tax goes on children's services and I begrudge every penny of it.

So when you need a doctor, dentist, nurse, bus driver or rely on literally anyone else in the country, you think they shouldn't have had education or healthcare all their lives?

I much prefer card or bank transfer.

It goes straight into my accounting software. Cash is a pain. I have to find somewhere to deposit it and do manual reconciliations.

Not banking is not an option. I need to pay my suppliers electronically and as I'm still FCA registered I need to be squeaky clean.

Mine takes bank transfer but you have to add 50p!

As pp have mentioned, it's demonstrably unfair to assume that anyone asking for cash is trying to dodge tax/CMS/whatever.

When people do it to avoid paying, it's wrong, unlawful and should not be supported.

However, it's wrong to say that everyone who wants to be paid in cash is up to something nefarious. Both me and DH are self-employed. My work is always paid by bank transfer. Around 80% of DH's work is paid the same way. However, every, say, 1 in 5 jobs, he asks if cash is an option as we sometimes use it for paying farm services//other trades/tips/similar. It can still be handy to have a bit of cash!

Let's not tar all self-employed people with this.

Dp is self employed and often gets asked if he’d do cheaper for cash. Erm no as regardless of tax evasion etc, we need the money in the bank to pay the bills.

I'm child free. We don't all think like you.