Skip hire costs

Section62

Swasterix said:

Section62 said:

chunkytfg said:

chrisw said:

la531983 said:

In my experience skip companies dont charge "per week", it's "per skip", and usually get the money up front.

This is my experience also. Hand the driver the cash when it's dropped off and phone them to collect it when it's full. It doesn't matter whether it's a week or 2 months or what's in it.

Thats my experience too. Pay by card and pay VAT so its cash all the way.  I think with my building work I've been doing at my home I've had about 15 skips in the last 2.5 years and paid cash every time and just text the driver to collect when I'm done with it and he turns up when he wants unless I want an exchange for an empty one and he's normally round in a couple of days.

Presumably you are ultra careful not to put anything identifying you in the skip so you don't get prosecuted for flytipping?

It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that just because they are paying cash and dodging VAT the waste is going to end up dumped in a back lane somewhere.

Not really.

Waste disposal is tightly regulated.  The skip company needs to have a waste carrier licence, the site the waste is tipped at needs an environmental permit. There is a requirement for end-to-end documentation of the waste.

Documenting the business you are doing 'off the books' is a bad idea, which is why traders doing work for cash (no VAT) won't give a (proper) receipt and are unlikely to give you any valid paperwork for what they've done.  To avoid being caught for VAT fraud/evasion it is vital to make sure there is no audit trail which would show the true extent of your business activities.

Whilst some traders can probably get away with doing some work that nobody else will find out about, the legal waste disposal business creates the perfect audit chain for HMRC investigators. If you issue a waste transfer note with no corresponding invoice it is as easy as it gets to prove unlawful activity.

Some companies and individuals do manage to work around the rules.  For a while.  But to run a VAT registered skip company where you frequently take skips on a cash/no VAT basis means operating outside the law to an extent where full compliance with waste/environmental legislation is impossible.

And flytipping isn't limited to waste "dumped in a back lane somewhere".

You may think it isn't any of your concern when the skip company takes your waste... but if you do get that knock on the door you may find out how wrong you were, and then you may care a bit more.