Paying tradesman cash in hand?

[Richtea67]

Hi all, our builder has offered a £500 discount on some work (£4000 instead or £4500), if we pay cash. I normally prefer the security of paying via bank transfer, but we're on a budget and this discount would make a massive difference. The builder seems legit, we've had recommendations and have gone to view previous jobs, checked out companies house details etc. The work comes with 5 year guarantee. Does this sound OK? Or would you be wary?

It’s to dodge tax. Every quote you get from trades people has two prices. Have you genuinely never had this before?

I did a lot of work on the house I bought a couple of years ago.

Everything was done with written quotes and invoices.

I would not hire anyone who wanted cash in hand.

He is clearly VAT registered and didn’t ask for cash in hand - he gave the quote and only brought up the cash option when OP expressed that the amount was more than they could really afford.

You won’t get a receipt if it is cash which can make it tricky if there is an issue and you end up down the legal route, although you could take other evidence which as pictures of him working if feasible.
Unfortunately this is so common now. We are wanting/had a load of work done and every single tradesman, when they felt they knew us wanted to discuss a cash option. The reality is now this is the impact of the shockingly punitive tax rates and what is known as the “Laffer” curve which outlines there is a maximum level of tax that can realistically be extracted by a government before avoidance and tax evasion becomes so prevalent which is what is occurring now. I
Some friends have had reputable trades refuse to work for them unless paid in cash and if you want the job doing, you don’t have much choice now

I agree with the sentiment but it is increasingly difficult to get some even reputable tradesman to now work without being paid cash. You might be lucky that they need to keep some cash flow going through the books so will take a bank payment at inflated cost

A builder who wants cash in hand is not 'legit'. You're also signing away your consumer rights if the work turns out to be faulty / poor quality.

Agreed…but good luck finding one now. This is the impact of the stupid government which imagines people will just keep paying tax for them to spend….they don’t and hence why the cash requests are booming

That hasn’t been my experience. We’ve recently moved and are doing quite a bit of work to our new house that is involving lots of different trades people, some of whom we’ve used for years, some are new to us. Some of the work is in the thousands or tens of thousands, some in the hundreds (not hundreds of thousands, just hundreds of pounds!). In addition to the people we’ve had doing the work, we’ve obviously had a lot more come to quote. None have even mentioned cash payments.

Maybe they think you work for HMRC. I haven’t had a single quote in over a year where they didn’t offer a ‘cash’ price and that’s with a LOT of work from lots of different trades people,

Well I am an accountant, but I don’t work for HMRC. Maybe I give off rule-following accountant vibes 😂

But people who’ve only dealt with DH because I’ve been out have also never given a cash price.

Have you checked with the FCA if he is offering a guarantee of five years?

Ha ha, I probably give off dodgy vibes.

As far as I am aware, cash is still legal tender so you won't be signing away any consumer rights by doing so. He may well not be paying VAT but this isn't your responsibility.

Pay cash and get him to sign a receipt 🤷🏻‍♀️ You sign it too. Make sure matériels are covered and any upfront requests also have a receipt. Don’t pay in full until the end. Pretty straight forward. And the builders tax affairs aren’t your problem

I’d do it after the work was completed.

Does the 5 year guarantee still stand for cash in hand jobs?

Depending on the work, I'd consider it but would be aware there wouldn't be any comeback if there was a problem. I wouldn't pay up-front either.

Does the £4500 include VAT? If it does you should really be getting all the 25% off, i.e. £1125, he's not paying tax on what he's earning so he's saving that as well.
We used a builder we didn't know and chose not to pay cash as we didn't trust him - just as well, he tried to claim for all sorts of odds and ends which were included in the original contract.

If you are at all uncertain about him I'd pay through the bank with invoices and receipts, £500 isn't peanuts, but it isn't much extra to spend for peace of mind.

I just love this thread: so many women complain about fathers not paying their way, and then you assist them in shafting their kids out of fair maintenance, or a government who simply cannot keep their hands out of people’s pockets (different issue but a real one).

hilarious, if it weren’t for the impact on single parent households. Delulu if you think minimising money through their EoY accounts is NOT the reason, ergo tax evasion.

But go ahead, and save yourself the £500 and shove the addional tax, £200 burden on to we who pay MORE than a fair share already. enjoy your £500 x

Why else would he be offering the discount for cash in hand then genius?

You don’t really have the security of a guarantee. If you call it in and simply doesn’t turn up what are you going to do? Take him to court? Unlikely isn’t it.

I’m happy to pay my trades cash and what they do with it is between them and their accountant. Who am I to police them?

If he is vat registefed and charged you £4500 through the books , he would only get £3750 plus he would be saving probably 40% tax. I would try to knock him down a bit more for cash

Of course it is. Why else would he give a 500 lb discount for cash if he wasn't evading taxes and or child maintenance?.

500 lb? To be fair it would be a weight off his mind.

Yes, I am fed up of having to correct it each time when I am dictating so just left it.

It's so annoying that Android defaults to lbs instead of £.