Who should cheque be paid to ?

brightontraveller

McKneff wrote: »

And what happens if something goes wrong with the work further along.


You have no proof you paid into his business for the work


Personally, I would not make the cheque payable to his wife.

[FONT=&quot]You have the contract of works should any defect/fault arise within the given warrantee period they have an obligation under law to rectify Payment to them or whomever is irrelevant even if its not paid at all does not alter the companies obligation in eyes of the law...[/FONT]

brightontraveller

FOREVER21 wrote: »

If he is registered for VAT and is charging VAT as he appears to be, then he needs to issue a VAT invoice, the total bill then becomes payable to the company.
He then puts the invoice etc through his books pays the VAT (or claims accredit if overall he is entitled to do).
To seek payment of the total to his wife may in fact suggest he is trying not to declare the VAT, that would make it a prosecutable offence and HMRC would pursue him if they were made aware of it.

They have not refused to issue a vat invoice op stated merely that email does not include all necessary information which as sent via email could be numerous reason why not ...



[FONT=&quot]How do you know he is not the employee his wife the director....[/FONT][FONT=&quot]you can be "A" LTD trading as whatever you want, [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Y[/FONT]ou have absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the person is avoiding the tax pocketing vat etc you know absolutely nothing about the company or individual.....
[/FONT]

zagfles

brightontraveller wrote: »

They have not refused to issue a vat invoice op stated merely that email does not include all necessary information which as sent via email could be numerous reason why not ...



[FONT=&quot]How do you know he is not the employee his wife the director....[/FONT][FONT=&quot]you can be "A" LTD trading as whatever you want, [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Y[/FONT]ou have absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the person is avoiding the tax pocketing vat etc you know absolutely nothing about the company or individual.....
[/FONT]

So OP should wait for the invoice with VAT number on before paying. Simples.

brightontraveller

zagfles wrote: »

So OP should wait for the invoice with VAT number on before paying. Simples.

Well that’s down to the OP amazed many who’ve posted don’t know the difference between ”invoice” and a “receipt” so wouldn’t be taking there advice... Personally I'd want both :rotfl:

tdubya

Thank you for all your replies guys. Quite a spread of opinion I must say..

We're currently waiting for a hard copy invoice that shows VAT number and Co. registration so that we have the paperwork we're entitled to. When the cheque is handed over we'll ask for the invoice to be signed as payment recieved as well.

Who to make the cheque payable to ? Someone earlier pointed out that I'm not the police which is a fair comment. I suppose its not much different to cheques being made payable to a factoring company or some other entity. As long as I have the VAT invoice/receipt I have to be content. I will have to ignore my heavy suspicion that my mother in law is being charged £1,000 worth of vat that may be going straight into someone's pocket instead of into the books.

zagfles

tdubya wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies guys. Quite a spread of opinion I must say..

We're currently waiting for a hard copy invoice that shows VAT number and Co. registration so that we have the paperwork we're entitled to. When the cheque is handed over we'll ask for the invoice to be signed as payment recieved as well.

Who to make the cheque payable to ? Someone earlier pointed out that I'm not the police which is a fair comment. I suppose its not much different to cheques being made payable to a factoring company or some other entity. As long as I have the VAT invoice/receipt I have to be content. I will have to ignore my heavy suspicion that my mother in law is being charged £1,000 worth of vat that may be going straight into someone's pocket instead of into the books.

Asking for a payment to made out to someone else is ones of the signs to look out for according to https://www.gov.uk/report-vat-fraud so I think you're right to be suspicious.

Though I suppose it's possible he's trying to avoid bank charges rather than being a tax fraudster.

FOREVER21

brightontraveller wrote: »

They have not refused to issue a vat invoice op stated merely that email does not include all necessary information which as sent via email could be numerous reason why


[FONT=&quot]How do you know he is not the employee his wife the director....[/FONT][FONT=&quot]you can be "A" LTD trading as whatever you want, [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Y[/FONT]ou have absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the person is avoiding the tax pocketing vat etc you know absolutely nothing about the company or individual.....
[/FONT][/QUOTE

Show me where I have said he is refusing to issue a VAT invoice.

I do not claim to know the builder nor his circumstances,merely, stating facts about good business practice and accounting for VAT receipts.

southcoastrgi

you could always make the chq out to me

aggypanthus

I would ask him why he wants it in his wifes name.
A chqu is traceable, if he wanted cash he could lose the paper trail.
His accountant will see his business acc, but not usually a wifes account.

pinkteapot

zagfles wrote: »

If he's charging you VAT, then demand a VAT receipt. He can't know whether some of that VAT might be reclaimable by you (for instance if you work at home you might be able to get expenses from your employer, for which you'd need a VAT receipt).

I had some cheeky ex BT engineer (now working for himself) do some phone wiring in my house many years ago, this was for phone points needed for working at home. He quoted me £40 plus VAT. OK'ed with my boss.

He did the work but refused to give me a VAT receipt. I said he's not getting the VAT unless he gives me a VAT receipt, because I needed a VAT receipt to claim expenses. Eventually he admitted he wasn't VAT registered! So I paid him the £40, and no VAT. He whinged, but no way was I paying more than agreed, £40 plus VAT. Not VAT registered, therefore VAT is zero!!

I'd go with this approach. It's less accusatory than challenging the cheque payee. As above, the builder has no way of knowing if you're registered for VAT yourself. You're entitled to ask for a proper VAT receipt if you're supposedly paying VAT.