Requesting a receipt decline

hansen666

I paid a builder cash to install a large amount of decking 4 days ago and 2 days ago I asked him for a receipt, just in case something goes wrong and I have evidence that he did the job.

He is refusing to give me a receipt and I'm not sure what to do.

Surely I should be allowed to have a receipt? otherwise I don't really have any hard evidence that he did the job, I mean I do have texts with the price agreed and what not but since it's a digital thing I'm not sure how well that would protect me?

comeandgo

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

user1977

Texts are much better than nothing. Most things are digital these days. There's no general right to a receipt. If you wanted one then you should have kept hold of the cash until you knew you were going to get one.

hansen666

comeandgo said:

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

No he hasn't, should he legally have to give me one? if not I guess I will just have to keep the texts and hope they are enough in case something goes wrong?

user1977

hansen666 said:

comeandgo said:

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

No he hasn't, should he legally have to give me one? if not I guess I will just have to keep the texts and hope they are enough in case something goes wrong?

No, there's no general right to an invoice.

If you wanted better evidence of payment, you should have used a method other than cash (why did you decide to pay in cash?).

hansen666

user1977 said:

hansen666 said:

comeandgo said:

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

No he hasn't, should he legally have to give me one? if not I guess I will just have to keep the texts and hope they are enough in case something goes wrong?

No, there's no general right to an invoice.

If you wanted better evidence of payment, you should have used a method other than cash (why did you decide to pay in cash?).

He said he would knock a few hundred off the price if I paid in cash, do you think texts would be enough evidence if I had to go to court in case of an issue?

They show the price and the work he offered to do, along with the date he is going to do it.

Undervalued

hansen666 said:

user1977 said:

hansen666 said:

comeandgo said:

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

No he hasn't, should he legally have to give me one? if not I guess I will just have to keep the texts and hope they are enough in case something goes wrong?

No, there's no general right to an invoice.

If you wanted better evidence of payment, you should have used a method other than cash (why did you decide to pay in cash?).

He said he would knock a few hundred off the price if I paid in cash, do you think texts would be enough evidence if I had to go to court in case of an issue?

They show the price and the work he offered to do, along with the date he is going to do it.

Any why do you think that was!!!

In other words it is not going through his books to fiddle his tax! Come on, you must surely have realised that?

All you can do is keep whatever evidence you have.

ciderboy2009

hansen666 said:

He said he would knock a few hundred off the price if I paid in cash, do you think texts would be enough evidence if I had to go to court in case of an issue?

Oh dear - so you've agreed to him doing it "off of the books" to save some money but still want a receipt which will mean he has to declare it?

I'm sure he'll be happy to provide a receipt if you pay him the "few hundred" he knocked off of the price.

comeandgo

The fact you paid cash, the fact there is no concrete evidence he actually did the work, the fact I suspect the work will never hit his books you could have trouble.  Take photos of the work and when someone offers to knock money off for cash, they are not really doing you a favour, you are encouraging them to do cash in hand jobs.

Undervalued

comeandgo said:

The fact you paid cash, the fact there is no concrete evidence he actually did the work, the fact I suspect the work will never hit his books you could have trouble.  Take photos of the work and when someone offers to knock money off for cash, they are not really doing you a favour, you are encouraging them to do cash in hand jobs.

Whilst there can be few people who could put their hand on their heart and say they have never paid for the odd "cash in hand" job you really do need to think carefully about the implications for anything more major.

What if the work proves to be defective and / or doesn't comply with building / plumbing / electrical regulations? Is the person working on this dodgy basis legally qualified for any regulated work? Are they properly insured if they have an accident and damage your property?

MattMattMattUK

hansen666 said:

user1977 said:

hansen666 said:

comeandgo said:

Has he given you an invoice?  A receipt only shows you have paid, it’s an invoice you need.

No he hasn't, should he legally have to give me one? if not I guess I will just have to keep the texts and hope they are enough in case something goes wrong?

No, there's no general right to an invoice.

If you wanted better evidence of payment, you should have used a method other than cash (why did you decide to pay in cash?).

He said he would knock a few hundred off the price if I paid in cash, do you think texts would be enough evidence if I had to go to court in case of an issue?

They show the price and the work he offered to do, along with the date he is going to do it.

He has said he would knock a few hundred off for cash because he is going to commit tax evasion, of course he will not give you any documentary evidence of his tax fraud.