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.

Indeed. We should use cash whilst we can. I avoid self service checkouts, & 'card only' ones if I can too.

Paying cash isn't a problem as long as it's declared as income. My cleaner prefers cash, but I know she declares it because I've helped her with tax returns and UC claims paperwork.

You can report to HMRC if you think the person/business isn't paying tax they should. HMRC investigates a lot of small businesses.

This.
I worked on a business where we were often paid in large amounts of cash. Every penny was declared and we paid all our taxes.
PP have made a valid point about VAT thresholds. It’s an extra cost to both parties. Not least the time involved in businesses administering it.
The other point about cash is that it doesn’t rely on electronics. I’m sure most of us have seen the chaos when the WiFi doesn’t work or the lines go down.

At least shops used to keep the manual card swipe and forms but all
thats gone now.

Its worth remembering that money is based on trust and that the current system has warped that beyond recognition and we now have a global fiat currency with global wealth effectively tied to the US Dollar. If the dollar collapses every single one of us is in the shit and money will lose value overnight.

No matter how much you’ve got, if you don’t invest it in things people assign value to and directly own those means, you will be as poor as everyone else if the dollar collapses.
This isn’t a political point but I don’t think people realise how much shit Gordon Brown got us out of when US sub prime mortgage thing went tits up.

If your cleaner or anyone wants cash just ask for an invoice. Then you have their name and address as well.

Of course electronic money is convenient but the poorer people are the bigger the informal economy.

If someone wants their £50 in cash I’m not going to judge them but just be thankful I can afford to pay someone to clean my house or provide the service I need and in turn put cash in to the economy and indirect taxation as they will likely pay VAT on things, it’s almost impossible to avoid now.

Cleaners that pay their taxes will and should charge more so that’s at least £20 ph. Assuming they work an 8 hour day mon to Fri and take 4 weeks holiday a year and never need time off for sickness etc that leaves them with just over £2.5 k per month.

With the costs of housing That’s quite a precarious situation if they are the only earner.
They’d be better off working for an employer. That would mean a much higher hourly rate to the customer to cover business costs, before any profits are made.

My gut feeling is that an anti cash stance is quite a privileged view to hold.

Agree with you there.

I pay mine by bank transfer
Not every nail place is the same
There is life outside your town

Frothing about an individuals tax affairs whilst buying coffee from Starbucks and stuff from Amazon.

deleted

We were amazed how customers almost always asked "what would the cash price be?" To supply and fit a kitchen? Same. No problem it's all declared, but if you want to walk through town with a bag full of notes.....

I stopped using a plumber because he would only accept cash.

a contractor for a job worth nearly £10k offered to discount the VAT if we paid cash…..i was shocked but suppose it happens all the time

I said £200 off the full price.

So I was given the option to pay
Bank transfer - labour plus VAT £350
Cash - labour +£200

i actually don’t mind paying in cash as long as it’s cheaper for me. And I don’t mean they give me two quotes they are cheaper in comparison to other quotes I have received from another business but work is on par. This way it’s benefitting us both. Rightly or wrongly

Which account is this? My hsbc account charges for every transaction other than a bank transfer

Nor me. I pay my tax, but what they do is down to their conscience. 🤷‍♀️

If the banking system goes down what makes you think paper money would be any use? That ship has long since sailed.

I have the opposite issue. My customers always want to pay me in cash on the assumption that I am fiddling the books. They can't understand that I prefer bank transfers as it costs me to pay cash in whereas a bank transfer is free.

I’m on that same threshold. It’s a massive pain, I’m having to turn away work rather than risking everything by having my prices rise 20%. I can see the temptation to dodge it, but I like to sleep soundly at night!

I also always pay by card at funfairs even though they always say cash preferred.

To play devils advocate . . . it may also be a way your cleaner ensures she is paid upfront and timeously and doesnt have t go through the song and dance of 'Ill transfer tonight' . . . 'I transferred yesterday, it will take a couple of days to reflect' etc etc while she is the last on the list of priorities for clients. My cleaner said exactly this, that she likes to walk in, see the envelope on the kitchen counter and know she isnt going to have to chase for proof of payment and keep an eagle eye on her bank account to monitor that that electronic payment is in fact paid....a lot of people use it as an opportunity for 'extension of credit'.

No, it has happened a few times (albeit for a relatively short period) and I’ve happily paid cash for things I needed whilst waiting for the system to come back online. There are also so many occasions, especially in rural areas, where card machines won’t work or are intermittent. Sure, if the banking system went down permanently then the situation would be different, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

Carpet cleaner here. We declare everything. We accept cash or bank transfer. But so often with bank transfer we're having to chase payments, people have their banking app go down or whatever. Cash is given on the day before we leave and there's no faffing about with it. That's why cash is better for a lot of people, it's less faffing about chasing people who forget/find reasons not to pay.

Shops, especially small ones, will always accept cash in such situations. Paper money can circulate without banks for a long time.

If paper money is truly useless, then society has collapsed and the only currency is guns, food and water.

Tax is a legalised form of theft

I agree. I’m self employed and like cash because I enjoy saving it up, counting it and physically paying it into the bank because it feels like real money 😳

However I don’t mind bank transfers and every penny gets declared.

Having said all of this, I do think the days of cash are numbered unfortunately. There is a generation coming through now who will likely never use it and who think that doing everything electronically is the way forward.

All very valid points. There was less personal debt when we got paid weekly in cash. It is
a lot easier to manage as it’s tangible.