How to withdraw cash from bank without questions

[ThatBeachLyfe]

Need to withdraw cash for some building work. Went into NatWest to ask how to do this and they said id need to fill out some paperwork and state what the money was to be used for. I said at the time it was to buy a second hand car and was told I’d need to bring photos of the car, and any email correspondence. I had my toddler with me so said I’d pop back another time when I had my hands free. I need to withdraw cash £7k. Is there a way I can do this without having to supply any proof or explanation of what it’s for? It’s my money so I don’t feel I should need to tell the bank and obviously don’t want to name my builder in the process.

1. don't go crying to the bank or anyone else if you get scammed by the builder
2. don't go crying to anyone if the cash is lost or stolen
3. don't go crying about the NHS or schools being underfunded as you are contributing to people avoiding income tax

Again, I really don't understand your need to lie! That just smacks of the fact that you know you're doing something dodgy somewhere! There's no need to say the money is for a car, the races or an antique market. Just tell the sodding truth.
My husband always deals in cash when we have large works done, he's old school, won't entertain internet banking. But we always get receipts and invoices and we use reputable builders, large firms with good reviews.

Why can’t you be honest?

No? it isn't "your money".

Once you deposit money in a bank, legally it's theirs. They hold it in trust for you, but are required to follow very strict mo ey laundering rules before they will release the funds back to you. This is why you can't demand money once the bank is closed and why your bank card used to have the words "this card remains property of" printed on it. Now those terms are listed on their website instead.

The EU CBDC mandate is becoming a reality.

"Money" no longer exists in the way it once did.

Banks have to be careful and check for fraud and money laundering. Scammers insist that people take out cash from their bank.
Why does your builder need to be paid in cash? That is a massive red flag and will be to the bank and why did you lie to your bank about why you needed the money?.
Also it is your business if the builder wants paying in cash to avoid paying tax it's immoral and you are complicit.
The bank are being doing their job and being responsible.

Yeah, it's like all the people who seem to think you're goign to cause the entire financial system to break down if you pay your occassional babysitter in cash instead of setting up PAYE and are you fully aware that she is declaring that extra £50....!

60% of the £46.8bn (so £28.08bn) tax gap (the amount HMRC should collect but don't) is from small businesses so yes, these things DO in fact matter. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps/1-tax-gaps-summary#tax-gap-by-customer-group

Pretty sure your average 16 year old babysitter isn’t earning above the income tax threshold, whereas a builder charging £20k per job will be.
The fact is that people evading tax means that those who pay tax, pay more tax. Some of you may be happy with contributing to that system; fair enough, that’s on you. I trust you also never complain about the state of the NHS/education system/anything else that is funded by taxes. I personally would never choose to be complicit in an illegal practise that affects everyone.

Dont' get me wrong, I run a small business and pay ALL my tax. And it's a lot of tax so I am ALL in favour of tax being paid.

BUT the reality is that finding a builder who will do it all "legit" is unusual - which is the post I was responding to. And there IS a lot of frothing about relatively low income people not necessarily declaring their income which genuinely does annoy me a lot.

But these aren’t necessarily small amounts we’re talking about. The tax on a £7k job isn’t insignificant. As I said, I’ve paid £40k to tradesman in the past year. If none of them declared that income, that’s a lot of tax. Most tradespeople aren’t on a low income.
Yes of course billionaires evading tax is also an issue; that doesn’t mean everyone else has the right to evade tax.
I wonder how many of the people outraged at independent schools not paying VAT are happy to pay cash to a tradesperson to avoid paying VAT?

If you pay your builder in cash it’s likely because they’ve asked you to in order to avoid paying tax. That may feel to you like a “them” issue in terms of risk, however it can become a you issue if the work turns out to be defective and you want to sue them. This happened to parents of a friend of mine. They paid in cash and later wanted to sue the builder. They were unable to do so because had no invoices for the true value of the work. The cost of the remedial works was more than they could afford and they had to sell the house at a massive loss in negative equity.

Banks are trying to avoid their customers being scammed, forced into pay large amounts to blackmailers, confidence tricksters etc. They also warn you when you make a large transfer.
Why does your builder want paying in cash?

Cash for the races might work. If you draw the same amount of money from your account over several days your card is likely to be stopped - anti-fraud and anti-money laundering laws/precautions.
I don't like my bank knowing where I spend my money, so I like cash. But this amount - which is a considerable sum to most people - is going to be hard to pay in cash. Tell your builder you want to pay by bacs - you can pay a smaller amount in cash, if you wish (c. 1k, I should think, withdrawn over a couple of weeks, never the same amount).

Bacs payments can be subject to APP fraud so you may still trigger a fraud check. I honestly don't understand why people are so cagey about their banks knowing where they spend their money. We don't have staff sitting around looking at what Doris has spent. As long as you are not breaking the law or being scammed people who work in banks couldn't care less what you spend and where.

It’s worse in Spain!

Historically, fraud in Spain has been extremely prevalent (used to work there, for a bank, in fraud!) and therefore much stricter controls have been brought in to combat it.

Ah is that why? It’s like the inquisition 🫣

That’s awful.

Tell them it’s for building work if that’s what it is. You’re entitled to withdraw your own money. There is no obligation for you to provide an invoice or any other such information.

I took out a cheap SIM card on a 6 month offer just for occasional data for my Mum when she at her caravan. I had to go through an entire online security process with lots of questions from my bank. The offer worked out at 50p a month.

This

I’m not quite in the 10k mark but having work done and they want cash

doesnt bother me. I get it out and give it to them £300/600/800

i do ask for an invoice /receipt just to prove I’ve paid