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.

You think banks aren’t safe?

It's rather a stretch to think that minimising cash in hand work would lead to a society without cash.
My observations of people who insist on being paid in cash is that it rarely for legitimate reasons (like avoiding bank fees) and mostly in order to evade paying tax - which of course pays for public services used by all - and/or so they might continue to receive earnings-related benefits, or avoid meeting their paternal responsibilities.
Personally, I would be more than happy to make it illegal to pay cash for goods or services beyond a de-minimus amount and illegal to receive cash for the same. There are many tech options available to make this practicable for 99% of the population.

I think the government ideas to tackle cowboy builders look promising here. You can use a government registered builder and the government will handle any complaints and overseas payment for you if things go wrong.

The customer gets a robust complaints process and knows the builder isn’t running off with their cash.

The builder gets a stamp of respectability.

The government gets tax.

Banks are only safe thanks to the government guarantee which was tested to its absolute limits in ‘08 when multiple banks failed. A cursory review of history should be sufficient to show that banks aren’t completely safe. But my concern is more about periodic disruption to financial tech and payment systems (which is not unusual), plus all the other issues I highlighted.

The government cannot manage the stuff it’s already trying to run. Utterly batshit that people want more government interference 😆.

also @Bolon
Cash is hardly safe. I have a friend who was burgled and all the cash (and there was a lot of it) was stolen. Suspect it wasnt covered under insurance either as insurance companies usually set strict rules on how much is on premises

This doesn’t appeal to you? A scheme to make sure it’s not just you but the government too arguing with a cowboy builder when he runs off with your money? I find that odd.

Totally agree..there is a whole sub culture of people who earn cash and then want services in cash. So many Chinese restaurants near us are all cash. Its soo dodgy and brazen. Years ago it was a real hush hush thing now so many are so open about it. Drives me mad.

Travel time? Who else gets paid whilst they’re driving to work??

No. The government already has too much on its plate and cannot administer the basics in an efficient and cost effective way. Any new scheme like this will be a mess and end up costing everyone money.

That’s ridiculously narrow minded. If people stop having children then you’ll have nobody to do anything for you when you get old.

If we all paid enough tax, there'd be more budget to do things properly!
You can want a cash economy all you like, but a cash economy cant support half of what we all expect from government these days.

Most employees only commute once each way. A self employed cleaner will be doing multiple journeys between clients. If an employee has a job requiring lots of travel between clients/customers, they'll almost certainly be paid for the travel time and probably also travel costs.

You’re either very young or very naive if you think that more money to government equals better and more services. It’s just pissed away in the giant inefficient morass of bureaucracy. We’ve tried the “more funding” before and all that happens is that certain people get very rich.

Agree, but was trying to preempt the ‘but she doesn’t get paid when travelling between jobs/holiday/sickness’ brigade. That always seems to be their main argument.

So when was this utopia where cash was king and we had cancer treatments, long retirements on a state pension, social care etc? Please, do enlighten us.

Who the ‘their’ in this post? People who think female cleaners aren’t raking it in and are probably struggling financially already.

Add vindictive reporting on top.

Again, lots of people work and are struggling, yet still pay their tax. And perhaps those people’s tax burden would be less if everyone paid their fair share.

Reporting a low paid cleaner is just going to wreck stuff for them and cause huge stress, not much else.

Entirely self inflicted...

Do you know anyone who cleans for a living?

Basically anyone who is paid in cash is now a suspect and should be reported. What a society we’ve become.

To be fair, that doesn't always mean a tax dodge.

The card fees can be a killer. My hair dressers will take card but prefer bank transfer or cash. This is 100% to save the card fees.

Not to what he will end up with but he’s dodging tax that we all have to contribute so society can function ?

That would be excellent. Scummy little tax dodgers get what they deserve.