Cash in hand to our cleaner

SnargleFlip

Hi all,

We have had a cleaner to help us in the house for the past year or so. We pay her £8 an hour, and she usually does about 6 hours work (£48 per week). This is paid to her in cash each week.

Recently she has been behaving a little oddly, not keeping the regular times or days we are used to. It transpires that she is being investigated for housing benefit fraud! I don't know the details, but I expect there is a limit to how much income she can receive before compromising this benefit, and I guess *any* undeclared income (such as our cash payments) wouldn't be welcomed.

I would like to help her any (legal) way I can, but firstly I need to ensure that our employment of her is completely above board. I think it is - I know that the weekly wage we pay her is both below the lower earnings limit for NI, and that her equivalent annual wage is within her personal allowance so there is no tax liability.

But whose responsibility is it to ensure that her combined income does not make her liable for NI or tax? Is it her responsibility or ours? Is it too late to insist she gives us a formal declaration of her other earnings or a promise that she alone is responsible for her tax affairs?

Any advice you experts out there can give would be more than welcome.

mrcow

You are not her employer.

She is working for herself as a cleaner.

It's up to her to make sure she is declaring income to HMRC and is paying her NICS.

pimento

What about that peer who was recently investigated for not ensuring her cleaner was legally able to work in the UK? What's the difference between that and the OP?

NAR

Think the key question is did you employ her or did she say she was self employed and offer you her services?

mrcow

pimento wrote: »

What about that peer who was recently investigated for not ensuring her cleaner was legally able to work in the UK? What's the difference between that and the OP?

That wasn't a cleaner - it was a housekeeper and the investigation was into whether they knew the woman was illegally working or not.

If you think that someone is working illegally in this country, then of course, you shouldn't be aided them - or you become embroiled in the investigation. Find a different cleaner.

However, declaring tax and the paying of class 2 NICS etc is the responsibility of the individual sole trader.

darkblue_2

One would assume you are employing her as a self-employed cleaner providing a service. This would leave the onus on her to declare tax.

You may want to consult your local tax office to find out the legal ramifications. It's a grey area.

If she is only providing these services to you, she wouldn't be over the tax threshold, so there's no reason why she shouldn't declare it as income. If she is also working for other people and not declaring the income, she could be in a lot of bother - but it's not your problem unless you are the employer.

pimento

mrcow wrote: »

If you think that someone is working illegally in this country, then of course, you shouldn't be aided them - or you become embroiled in the investigation. Find a different cleaner.

How are you to know to ask though? Shouldn't you ask everyone? Even your next door neighbour if there's the possibility they may be working outside of the law?

mrcow

pimento wrote: »

How are you to know to ask though? Shouldn't you ask everyone? Even your next door neighbour if there's the possibility they may be working outside of the law?

I said "if you think".

If you think that someone is committing an offence or acting illegally, then the last thing you should be doing is aiding them. If you are actually employing someone, checking references is also a good start.......

You don't have to go round questioning every random person within your neighbourhood as to their personal circumstances. Common sense will suffice.

SnargleFlip

Thanks for all the input so far, peeps.

NAR wrote: »

Think the key question is did you employ her or did she say she was self employed and offer you her services?

Actually she came through an agency to which my better half pays a small retainer each month. They approve / vet / reference check all the cleaners; they provide insurance against accidental damage by the cleaner; and they source replacement cleaners if anything goes wrong.

However, as we pay our cleaner directly, in cash, she's not employed by this agency nor is she strictly speaking employed by us.

ariba10

I would think you would be in the same position as someone who paid a window cleaner every week.

savingmummy

ariba10 wrote: »

I would think you would be in the same position as someone who paid a window cleaner every week.

Exactly my thought!

It is her responsibitlity to declare her earnings.