Receipts - a legal obligation..?

RainbowsInTheSpray

Not at all sure which forum is suited to this enquiry.

My understanding was that the issuing of a receipt for a payment of any kind was a legal requirement if requested. The freeholder/management company of a building where I let out a flat has recently changed. One of the upshots is that communications have become dire... with the exception of demands for maintenance charge payments. These are issued with great regularity - but when it comes to answering my requests for receipts to prove I have paid, there's a deafening silence. I need these to justify my tax declarations.

Is the freeholder within their rights to issue no receipts? It seems to me this surely cannot be the case.

comeandgo

If you have an invoice you don’t need a receipt for your tax declarations.  You will have evidence it is paid by whichever way you paid, ie bank transfer or cheque.  

unforeseen

There is no legal requirement (apart from where a VAT receipt is required) to provide receipts, even in a b2b transaction as this appears to be. 

Jeremy535897

Does the lease provide for a requirement for the landlord to issue a receipt?

Details of rights and obligations can be found here:
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

RainbowsInTheSpray

comeandgo said:

If you have an invoice you don’t need a receipt for your tax declarations.  You will have evidence it is paid by whichever way you paid, ie bank transfer or cheque.  

An invoice is a bill: a request for payment. It proves nothing as to whether the bill's been paid.

RainbowsInTheSpray

unforeseen said:

There is no legal requirement (apart from where a VAT receipt is required) to provide receipts, even in a b2b transaction as this appears to be. 

Sorry... 'b2b'..?

RainbowsInTheSpray

Jeremy535897 said:

Does the lease provide for a requirement for the landlord to issue a receipt?

Details of rights and obligations can be found here:
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

Interesting. I shall check. I really did assume, wrongly it appears, that the issuing of a receipt was mandatory by law. If not, this is surely something that has both landlords and HMRC banging their heads against the wall in frustration.

Typical British muddle. Back in Victorian times, this country led the world in being able to organise things clearly. How the mighty are fallen...

Andy_L

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

unforeseen said:

There is no legal requirement (apart from where a VAT receipt is required) to provide receipts, even in a b2b transaction as this appears to be. 

Sorry... 'b2b'..?

business to business, as opposed to a consumer transaction

Jeremy535897

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Does the lease provide for a requirement for the landlord to issue a receipt?

Details of rights and obligations can be found here:
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

Interesting. I shall check. I really did assume, wrongly it appears, that the issuing of a receipt was mandatory by law. If not, this is surely something that has both landlords and HMRC banging their heads against the wall in frustration.

Typical British muddle. Back in Victorian times, this country led the world in being able to organise things clearly. How the mighty are fallen...

In those days, you had to stick a stamp on receipts as well. The bureaucracy in those days was excessive, as the Indian railway system that took their methods from it shows so clearly. Nothing would ever happen if we tried to run things that way now. It wasn't designed for the size and speed of the modern economy.

comeandgo

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

comeandgo said:

If you have an invoice you don’t need a receipt for your tax declarations.  You will have evidence it is paid by whichever way you paid, ie bank transfer or cheque.  

An invoice is a bill: a request for payment. It proves nothing as to whether the bill's been paid.

If you paid by bank transfer or cheque then that’s your proof.

RainbowsInTheSpray

Jeremy535897 said:

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Does the lease provide for a requirement for the landlord to issue a receipt?

Details of rights and obligations can be found here:
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

Interesting. I shall check. I really did assume, wrongly it appears, that the issuing of a receipt was mandatory by law. If not, this is surely something that has both landlords and HMRC banging their heads against the wall in frustration.

Typical British muddle. Back in Victorian times, this country led the world in being able to organise things clearly. How the mighty are fallen...

In those days, you had to stick a stamp on receipts as well. The bureaucracy in those days was excessive, as the Indian railway system that took their methods from it shows so clearly. Nothing would ever happen if we tried to run things that way now. It wasn't designed for the size and speed of the modern economy.

And yet... and yet... (forgetting about stamps on receipts for a moment)... isn't it curious how other countries seem to still know how to run things, whether it's railways or governments, whereas here we are mired in a mixture of lethargy, political correctness and and an outright contempt for common sense? Such a shame. You see examples of this on almost a daily basis.