'Would you 'pay in cash' to help people avoid tax?' poll

MSE_Martin

davetrousers wrote: »

A 15% deduction would be less for the tradesman!

Job costs £100 plus 17.5% VAT = £117.50 (so this is what it should legitimately cost.)

OK now deduct 15% from £117.50 and the sum is £99.88

Not if they're also forgoing paying income tax when it'd be far more.

danthemoneysavingman

My concern is that you can't really get a worthwhile guarantee if you were to pay cash in hand - don't you think?
Do correct me if I'm wrong - I'd rather pay the right price and have full comeback

Gareth_Lazelle

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

My concern is that you can't really get a worthwhile guarantee if you were to pay cash in hand - don't you think?
Do correct me if I'm wrong - I'd rather pay the right price and have full comeback

I suspect if the transaction is "off the books" the tradesman can simply say he had never met you and you won't have a leg to stand on if you try to pursue him for the work,

(Either that or the whole affair will come to light in court and you might both be liable for fraud (after all, you are an accomplice)),

Soubrette

I wouldn't pay cash to avoid tax but if someone wanted me to pay them cash then I'd have no problem with that.

I had a home hairdresser who used to ask for cash because it kept her cashflow fluid and she used to have to pay to deposit cheques into her business account.

Now that could all be a load of hooey but as far as I was concerned both ends of the deal was being upheld, I was not being offered any discounts and, as either cash or cheque was not a problem for me, I was happy to pay how she preferred.

Sou

Absinthe_Fairy

Sorry to be pedantic, but shouldn't 'plummer' be 'plumber'? Or is 'plummer' just a job title I haven't heard of?

meher

I don't know if it's the same but something similar happened to me at the local garage once not too long ago, the man told me that if I wanted a receipt he would charge me higher rate; I said fine and paid him. I remember feeling indifferent but my husband, the eternal fatalist, reminded me you know you can't carpet the whole world. That's not my intention to be honest, I just wish people don't put me in such a position making me share their sin. As a general rule I'd find everything in good faith and just pay cash if needed and forget about it.

custardy

meher wrote: »

I don't know if it's the same but something similar happened to me at the local garage once not too long ago, the man told me that if I wanted a receipt he would charge me higher rate; I said fine and paid him. I remember feeling indifferent but my husband, the eternal fatalist, reminded me you know you can't carpet the whole world. That's not my intention to be honest, I just wish people don't put me in such a position making me share their sin. As a general rule I'd find everything in good faith and just pay cash if needed and forget about it.

thats fairly standard,hence the term 'price for cash'
meaning you hand me cash and drive off

vansboy

The Government actually appreciate the 'Black Economy', as they will profit quite well from it.

Not so much the few £$£$ here & there, but something like criminal activities & drug dealing. I've posted this equation before, but see what you think....

Drug dependent person breaks into your house, steals the plasma tv that cost you £500. You have to buy another, so need to earn £700ish. Government get £200 from your income, plus £100VaT on new tv, plus the tax on the tv stores profit.

The drug user gets £100 for the tv, which the buyer may or may not have had to pay tax on his income, but the £100 to the drug dealer will either be laundered to pay an amount of tax, but possibly not.

By the time all the drug deals have passed through to Mr Big the real supplier, chances are he will spend some of the profits on high value items & not claim back the VaT on say the new £70000 Range Rover, thus the Government get to keep the all the duty, so arounde £10000 straight into their coffers, without anyone needing to 'work' for it.

VB

Li0nhead

Don't worry people. This is the first area the Govt will jump on in an effort to increase tax revenues. Its far more popular chasing people who avoiding tax than it is tax rises/spending cuts. Even though all are coming in with no doubt.

vansboy

Li0nhead wrote: »

Don't worry people. This is the first area the Govt will jump on in an effort to increase tax revenues. .

There are more officials working on the investigation of undeclared income, that's true.

But pretty much on those who CAN be EASILY traced, have the means to re-pay & won't give a hard time.

Try that with some more organized activities & it'd cost more in manpower costs than they would stand a chance of recovering.

So another penny or two on petrol or VaT or income tax & a computer grabs it much more efficiently!!

FROM US!!

The number of times I was offered 'cash' payments from customers - buying vans remember - expecting me to suddenly disappear the VaT element was crazy. How on earth they thought I would I have been able to loose this from the screen price is beyond me.

& anyway, they'd need a reciept of some kind, even if they were the smallest business in town, or their accountant would start asking!!

VB