Would you be willing to pay a workman in cash

I’m another mug who believes in paying taxes in the hope that we all might enjoy better public services.

Notnicenanny you don’t avoid paying VAT by paying tradesmen cash.
You pay the price for the job.
They pay the VAT.
The price for the job might be lower because they are not VAT registered, but presumably the threshold is set at £85K to encourage small businesses & give them a competitive edge and that’s a good thing.
Paying cash simply allows them not to declare their income and avoid income tax, and VAT if they’re registered, but a company that’s large enough to be VAT registered probably is going to be above board anyway.
Perhaps customers who collude in tax avoidance should be prosecuted along with the tax dodging businesses.

I'm speechless!
(for once)

Hahaha nicenanny some of us on GN live in the ‘real world’ AND simultaneously retain a set of moral principles - but there you go.

Think some posters need to get out in the real world.

You must have lead a sheltered life as well then that's all I can say.

Actually nicenanny I’ve been more than shocked at some of your posts elsewhere on GN and am more than pleased to be ‘sheltered’ from some of those attitudes

At a guess I would say not sheltered but conscientious and civic minded.

varian you must lead a very sheltered life if you are shocked by that.

There’s a difference between paying in cash when it’s relatively normal for the type of business - lots of small value transactions - and doing it for a large amount when it’s clear really what the reason must be. That seems like an act of deliberate collusion and that clearly makes some of us uncomfortable.

I'm pretty shocked that anyone could post "wouldn't have a problem especially if I was avoiding paying VAT I would be pleased ?"

Does that mean you would be pleased to go without the public services funded by VAT nicenanny?

re windowcleaning - many years ago I was working with young tearaways who were creating problems in school trying to plan for their future. I asked a teenage girl how she was going to earn a living with her school record.
She said - windowcleaning - you take the cash and don't have to pay tax. She was an athletic girl and probably did well.

You don't have to be VAT registered if the turnover is less than about £85,000 (variable according to type of business) but he should have a bank account.

I doubt my window cleaner's turnover is £85,000 so he won't need to be VAT registered and his income tax and NI is not my responsibility, it's on his own conscience.

You can be non vat registered and be paid by BACs. What he really means is that he’s not paying vat, and probably not the full amount of tax and NI - Oh well, there’s plenty of other mugs who will

We're having some work done and the guy made it clear he isn't vat registered so we paid cash. About one thousand.

More than £1 in every £5 which is collected by the Government comes from Value Added Tax.

One could argue that the rate of VAT is too high and should be reduced.
However, if you avoid paying it then you really can't grumble about the rich who avoid paying tax, government services being reduced etc.

If it was for work costing upto £1000 and they had done a good job and I was paying after completion wouldn't have a problem especially if I was avoiding paying VAT I would be pleased ?

I paid the window cleaner with cash this morning.

jalima you have a record of payment if you pay by BACS. The amount and the name of the recipient appears in your bank statement, unlike a cheque which just appears as the cheque number.
Yes, I have done that janea
DH likes old-fashioned cheques though - however, he did once sign a very large cheque to a workwoman (is that a word?) and it was referred back because he used my account by mistake and the bank did look at the signature that time and realised it was not mine. I then paid her by BACS.

Maryeliza54 How happy would you be walking around with two thousand pounds in your pocket to give to him?
If, like me, you are over 60 and built nothing like Arnie, it can be a worrying exercise collecting that much from the bank and taking it home with you. I've had to carry large amounts of cash now and then - white knuckles all the way!

I've just realised that my story of selling something for cash was a bad example. It was nothing to do with business, and mainly to avoid a possibly dud cheque.

I'm utterly flabbergasted at the number of people who think that self-employed people who accept cash must be dodging the system.

"Dodgy builder" - never used one and I wonder how many builders would take offence at the suggestion that they are dodgy.

I own 2 businesses (sleeping partner now but far from silent ), and have always been more than happy to accept cash payments. In turn I have cash knocking about that I pay other people with. I do my tax return every year and have never "fiddled" anyone.

I'd like to know where I said that I didn't get either a revised invoice or a receipt? Did I say that?

I have never stolen from anyone, thanks very much!

Funnily enough there was an item on the news this morning about the number of banks that are closing, which means people can't get cash out easily and the knock-on effect this is having on small business' who only accept cash. There was a fruit and veg shop man who only takes cash, some sort of cheese lady and others - are they automatically fiddling the system then?

Good luck enforcing a guarantee given for work paid for in cash without a receipt given

Just be wary of stuff that doesn’t “go through the books”

I would have no problem paying cash if I get a proper invoice.
I am a beauty therapist and my charges start at £5.50. I accept cash, bacs and cheques. I’d rather have cash for the smaller amounts because a cheque costs me 75p. Cheques make it easier to do my accounting and on a more expensive treatment it doesn’t eat into the profits too much.
On £2000it would be negligible. Too much cash is a pain to deal with because I don’t pay many of my bills in cash and I have to pay to deposit cash too.
I’m not registered for VAT as like many small businesses my turnover these days doesn’t come up to the threshold.
I do, and always have, paid my taxes.
If I and many others like me weren’t honest we would be stealing from YOU.
I think that if you pay a large bill, without a proper invoice, in cash then you are helping to steal from all of us.
Sorry if that upsets some of you but our services need to be paid for.

Bank transfer yes. Cash no, Not these days.

We pay large bills by cheque because then you have a record of the payment

jalima you have a record of payment if you pay by BACS. The amount and the name of the recipient appears in your bank statement, unlike a cheque which just appears as the cheque number.