Credit card or debit card (or cash)

WillPS

RG2015 said:

AmityNeon said:

RG2015 said:

I am saddened that people are maligning small businesses by assuming they are tax cheats without any evidence.

It’s like the despicable mantra that everyone on social security is a scrounger.

There are quite a few restaurants in a particular colloquially known area serving a certain type of cuisine that only accept cash and hire employees who have no right to work in the UK. So I’ve heard from former employees of these establishments.

I accept that some businesses will keep income off the books to reduce they tax.

I was just objecting to an earlier post from @Rob5342 saying that his fish and chip shop only took cash, and he presumed that this was done to avoid tax.

What do you make of the businesses which take card but give a discount of ~10% for cash? That feels pretty blatant to me.

RG2015

WillPS said:

RG2015 said:

AmityNeon said:

RG2015 said:

I am saddened that people are maligning small businesses by assuming they are tax cheats without any evidence.

It’s like the despicable mantra that everyone on social security is a scrounger.

There are quite a few restaurants in a particular colloquially known area serving a certain type of cuisine that only accept cash and hire employees who have no right to work in the UK. So I’ve heard from former employees of these establishments.

I accept that some businesses will keep income off the books to reduce they tax.

I was just objecting to an earlier post from @Rob5342 saying that his fish and chip shop only took cash, and he presumed that this was done to avoid tax.

What do you make of the businesses which take card but give a discount of ~10% for cash? That feels pretty blatant to me.

You will have to explain this to me. How is this evidence of tax fraud?

Also, if this is blatant tax fraud why don’t HMRC clamp down on it?

Ebe_Scrooge

RG2015 said:

AmityNeon said:

RG2015 said:

I am saddened that people are maligning small businesses by assuming they are tax cheats without any evidence.

It’s like the despicable mantra that everyone on social security is a scrounger.

There are quite a few restaurants in a particular colloquially known area serving a certain type of cuisine that only accept cash and hire employees who have no right to work in the UK. So I’ve heard from former employees of these establishments.

I accept that some businesses will keep income off the books to reduce they tax.

I was just objecting to an earlier post from @Rob5342 saying that his fish and chip shop only took cash, and he presumed that this was done to avoid tax.

I agree.  There are plenty of small businesses around here who don't accept credit cards, and a few who only accept cash.  Of course I have no way of knowing for certain, but I have no reason to suspect that they're fiddling things.  I have always assumed that it's simply due to the CC fees they'd have to pay (I know that most business accounts charge a fee to deposit cash, but assume that's less than CC fees?).

Maybe it's different in a city or large town where there's a higher volume of transactions, rather than the quiet backwater where I live with relatively residents and visitors?  Would the economies of scale mean a business in a larger town is better able to absorb the CC fees?  No idea, really, just musing.....

WillPS

RG2015 said:

WillPS said:

RG2015 said:

AmityNeon said:

RG2015 said:

I am saddened that people are maligning small businesses by assuming they are tax cheats without any evidence.

It’s like the despicable mantra that everyone on social security is a scrounger.

There are quite a few restaurants in a particular colloquially known area serving a certain type of cuisine that only accept cash and hire employees who have no right to work in the UK. So I’ve heard from former employees of these establishments.

I accept that some businesses will keep income off the books to reduce they tax.

I was just objecting to an earlier post from @Rob5342 saying that his fish and chip shop only took cash, and he presumed that this was done to avoid tax.

What do you make of the businesses which take card but give a discount of ~10% for cash? That feels pretty blatant to me.

You will have to explain this to me. How is this evidence of tax fraud?

Also, if this is blatant tax fraud why don’t HMRC clamp down on it?

Why would a business incentivise use of cash if they have card facilities?

Why would the discount they offer be so much higher than the added cost of card processing could possibly be (ignoring the increased risk which comes with carrying more cash)?

General_Grant

Are retailers still allowed to offer discounts for cash/full payment?

Or is it just that those paying cash/in full can't be charged more than those buying on credit?
(And hence why "pay in 3" is offered at online check-out for no additional cost - so that those not taking up that offer are actually/probably paying extra for the same goods to compensate for finance costs.)

RG2015

WillPS said:

RG2015 said:

WillPS said:

RG2015 said:

AmityNeon said:

RG2015 said:

I am saddened that people are maligning small businesses by assuming they are tax cheats without any evidence.

It’s like the despicable mantra that everyone on social security is a scrounger.

There are quite a few restaurants in a particular colloquially known area serving a certain type of cuisine that only accept cash and hire employees who have no right to work in the UK. So I’ve heard from former employees of these establishments.

I accept that some businesses will keep income off the books to reduce they tax.

I was just objecting to an earlier post from @Rob5342 saying that his fish and chip shop only took cash, and he presumed that this was done to avoid tax.

What do you make of the businesses which take card but give a discount of ~10% for cash? That feels pretty blatant to me.

You will have to explain this to me. How is this evidence of tax fraud?

Also, if this is blatant tax fraud why don’t HMRC clamp down on it?

Why would a business incentivise use of cash if they have card facilities?

Why would the discount they offer be so much higher than the added cost of card processing could possibly be (ignoring the increased risk which comes with carrying more cash)?

In which case you will need to do your civic duty and report them to HMRC.

After all it is our money as taxpayers that is being stolen.

pridehappy

I tend to use debit card for small everyday purchases, as the cash back available on small amounts is usually minimal, even with credit. Plus, I find it easier to budget using my debit card as it’s in front of you what you do and don’t have, and you don’t need to worry about possible interest payments if you forget your payments. In addition, my debit card sometimes comes with offers such as 10% cash back on supermarket spend, and when I switched to the Virgin Money M Plus, I was offered 25% cashback on supermarket spend and fuel.

All purchases over around £100 on credit, simply because of cash back and protection.