Working for a Chinese buffet that doesn't pay tax

Shaz1493

So 5 months ago I started working for a Chinese buffet restaurant they told me it was cash and hand and that it's all legit paid everyweek
I received my first wage and there was no pay slip therthere was however a hand written note in the money bag to say how much I earned
This confined for a couple weeks until the hand note was changed to say how many hours I worked and how much I earned
When I told my friends and family about the pay they all said that is not a wage slip
2 months into the job I was given the opportunity to leave and start a new job when my supervisor asked me why I wanted to leave I said I need a job that is through the books and not cash in hand he then said we can put you through the books just hand in your p45/60 (can't remember which )
So I handed in my p45/60 to my other supervisor and she handed me it back and gave me a different form (it was the form for people who don't have a p45 or 60)
So I have been though the books now for 3 months I questioned my actual boss about pay slips start of December and he gave me them on the 19th January
When I looked at them I noticed right away there was no deduction what so ever (on my hand written note with wages I get £3 deducted for a meal) there has been no taxed payed (despite me not paying with my tax code I should have been emergency taxed?) And no national insurance paid either
They have since let me go as of the end of February as they are downsizing the team despite employing more people
Is this normal and legal to not pay a penny in tax or national insurance for employers is it a normal thing for chinese employers to sack their non chinese staff after 3 months I have been in contact with hmrc about this and all they say is they will investigate it nothing has came of it

Thrugelmir

Shaz1493 wrote: »

I have been in contact with hmrc about this and all they say is they will investigate it nothing has came of it

Have no fear it'll be on their radar.

00ec25

national insurance
i will assume you were paid each week (not each month or every 4 weeks)
on that basis if your wages came to more than £157 in each week then you should have had some NI deducted from your pay

if you did not that is proof positive of tax fraud since NI must be deducted each time you are paid more than the minimum threshold of £157 per week (different threshold if paid monthly)

income tax
as you appear to have started work Oct 2017 (5 months ago) it is possible that you were indeed able to to be paid without any income tax deducted since I assume you earned £0 from April - Oct, so had 7 months of tax free allowance to "catch up" with

Pennywise

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Have no fear it'll be on their radar.

In reality, chances are it will never reach the top of their "to do" list. Accountants are reporting that their money laundering reports are being ignored by HMRC, even for large amounts. Some have made dozens of reports and years later none have been acted upon. What HMRC say and what they do are world's apart. In reality, HMRC "may" investigate eventually if the numbers are big enough and there's a prospect of good publicity for them, otherwise, nothing will happen.

C_Mababejive

If you can get tax free cash,whats not to like?

Wayne_O_Mac

C_Mababejive wrote: »

If you can get tax free cash,whats not to like?

Underfunded public services?

Admittedly you get those at the moment even if you do pay tax, because Tories, but that doesn't make it right.

Voyager2002

Pennywise wrote: »

In reality, chances are it will never reach the top of their "to do" list. Accountants are reporting that their money laundering reports are being ignored by HMRC, even for large amounts. Some have made dozens of reports and years later none have been acted upon. What HMRC say and what they do are world's apart. In reality, HMRC "may" investigate eventually if the numbers are big enough and there's a prospect of good publicity for them, otherwise, nothing will happen.

FWIW I have a family member whose job is investigating tax fraud by fairly small businesses -- and his last big case was a Chinese restaurant! Having said that, there are problems with their (HMRC fraud team) operating budget...

Pennywise

Voyager2002 wrote: »

FWIW I have a family member whose job is investigating tax fraud by fairly small businesses -- and his last big case was a Chinese restaurant! Having said that, there are problems with their (HMRC fraud team) operating budget...

Yet HMRC manage to hound small businesses for less important things where the tax at stake is tiny. I've had a case where HMRC inspector has been arguing over less than £50 of tax due to differing interpretations of allowable expense legislation - i.e. grey area. Crazy stuff going on in HMRC land.

kidmugsy

Wayne_O_Mac wrote: »

Underfunded public services?
.

As distinct from the usual ones that are overfunded and hopelessly inefficient?

No doubt Comrade Cob will put it all right.

laticsforlife

Pennywise wrote: »

Yet HMRC manage to hound small businesses for less important things where the tax at stake is tiny. I've had a case where HMRC inspector has been arguing over less than £50 of tax due to differing interpretations of allowable expense legislation - i.e. grey area. Crazy stuff going on in HMRC land.

Conversely I know of numerous accountants who claimed £50 (example) for expenses which was also investigated (and turned out to be uninvoiced, estimated and not allowable), yet they had over 1,000 clients who claimed the same expense sum for, hence £50,000 of excess expenses at least - was it wrong for your case to be checked when the same expense item was checked here just for more people at once?

msallen

Regardless of the weekly payslips (or not as the case may be), did you get a P45 when you left?

Its a long time ago I admit (circa 1990-1992) but I worked as a live-in barman in a pub in London for a couple of years and the wages were always quoted net (£85/week plus food and lodgings). I just got an envelope with the cash in every week and no paperwork with it. Young and naive as I was at the time I thought nothing of it, but when I left I did get a P45, and indeed my NI record online shows that it was paid during that period, so all was actually above board.