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

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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.

It used to always be cash or a cheque so I don't mind.

I found myself drawing out cash for days in a row so that I could pay the fencer! I had 2 quotes and they both wanted cash - i wouldn’t do that again, it was of no obvious benefit to me and was at my own risk.

I'm self employed.
I ask for cash as I'm sick of people not paying me or 'forgetting' and using me as some sort of credit facility.
I charge the same regardless of payment method but only a very select few are allowed to pay bank transfer as I trust/know them!
I also don't enjoy losing a percentage of my earnings every time I perform a transaction which can be several hundred a month. How would you feel on PAYE if you lost money each month when you were paid?
I also pay my taxes fair and square just like I'm supposed to.
I hate threads like this that tar everyone with the same brush

People who claim that it’s because of bank charges are not always being honest. It’s a myth that shops pay more to use payment cards than deposit their takings in cash.

Do you receive many cheques these days?!

But as for online transfer charges, it largely depends on what you sell, surely? If you sell cars, a 35p bank charge is nothing at all; but if you sell 200 people a loaf of bread or a carton of milk every day, and they all pay by card, that charge could represent much or even most/all of your profit.

Also, bank charges tend to vary based on turnover - with the people with the fewest transactions ending up having to pay proportionately much more. The likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's likely negotiate their charges for receiving payments virtually nothing for each of their millions of transactions; your local corner shop has far, far less negotiating power.

To be fair the nail bar I go to will only accept bank transfer x

Except that, for small traders where a high proportion of their takings will effectively represent their own wages, with cash, they don't ever have to deposit that in the bank at all. As long as it all goes through the books, what's the issue?

I mean the police we have right now is absolutely useless. They are absolutely crap. Who is to say private competing security agencies would do a worse job? Why would Russia bomb us? There'd be no government to topple. We'd just be a society minding our own business.

I don't know why you think we'd need a government for roads and streetlamps. Streetlamps would simply be bundled into the cost of the road itself.

Water and trains can be done privately. The cost of government inefficiency is extreme.

I don't believe in theft and forceful violence.

Russia might decide that the natural resources and (potential) slave labour the UK could offer is worth taking. No formal army, a bit of bombing and oppression, yep
I’m sure an out post to Russia with coal - mined by slave labour, oil, and farm land could be handy.

Years ago we got a quote for some work in our house - from memory it was under £1,000. No talk
what so ever about it being a cash job. I didn’t know the tradesman, got him fr
check a trade or similar. Day or so before the job was due to start he wanted me to ring the shop to pay for the goods. I was really worried about doing this as I don’t know what I’m paying for, plus the money for this job was in our savings which we would transfer to our current account before the cheque we planned to pay with cleared (this was probably 20 years ago so no online banking). When I told him this he said that he expected cash anyway and couldn’t understand why we thought we would pay with a cheque. We cancelled the job.

What natural resources do we have? We are a service based economy? Our oil and coal are running out.

If they tried something do you not think people would want to try and fight back on the guerrilla level. I'd take arms. So would everyone to fight an invasion.

Yes I suppose a Vietnam style gorilla war would be something. It wouldn’t matter about the amount of resources to invade, it would to slug it out.

I don’t know where your based but I run a small cleaning business and only accept bacs transfer. Same when I was stand alone. If your in the east cheshire / Stockport I can send you my info x

Not just vat. If they don’t declare it savesthem income tax and nic, also helps them evade child maintenance and maybe even benefit fraud. They may pay their workers in cash in hand too saving employers nic, workplace pension, etc.

How do they pay their mortgage, utilities etc if they don’t bank the cash?

Less negotiating power but lots of choice as to which bank and which card provider to use. Some card providers are aimed at high volume low value transactions for small shops etc.

the average hourly rate for cleaners in Bristol now is £25 per hour (and mostly cash only!) - my last cleaner had gone off to do her paramedic training - but she quickly released she made far more money as a self employed cleaner

And a lot 'employ' Vietnamese women who may or may not be trafficked.

The lady who does my nails was born locally and definitely pays her tax / NI.

It amazes me that people seriously suggest that Russia has either the intention or the capability to attack the Uk or any other European nation. They have been humiliated in Ukraine where they thought they’d prevail in days. As the US has discovered in Iran: sometimes it’s better to let people suspect you’re weak, rather than start a war and prove it.

Most idiotic thing I've ever read. You'd rather guerilla warfare (with what weaponry?) than a functional government? Ridiculous 😂

The UK government is crap and damages everything it touches. I'd rather live as my own free individual thank you very much

Plenty of countries with minimally functioning governments. If thats your thing, why not emigrate and try out those private providers you think are so wonderful?

Well, that kinda proves the point people are making. A cleaner will make more if she can evade tax and NIC (and probably illegally claim benefits due to undeclared income), whereas a paramedic will be on PAYE suffering income tax, NIC, pension deductions, union subs and other deductions, etc.

The huge difference is that the paramedic would be accruing a generous occupational pension, paid holidays, paid sickness, and probably a route for promotions and higher pay grades etc. Whereas the cleaner working on cash gets none of that.

So short term, yes, illegal undeclared cash gives you more cash in your pocket, but long term, a proper "job" under PAYE, especially in the NHS with enhanced benefits etc would be better for future proofing and future income etc.

Agree 100
Same people who are high earners and look down their nose at cash in hand probably employ an accountant and get round taxes
Probably whinge about inheritance tax and stamp duty etc

I don’t mind giving tradespeople cash in hand if they do a good job , are reliable and don’t over charge . However that never seems to be the case these days