Would you be willing to pay a workman in cash

Well there’s probably only one reason the workman has asked for cash MaryEliza and that will be to avoid putting the transaction “through the books”, paying VAT out ( assuming registered ) and tax on the money .

It seems a lot of money ( 4 figures ) to fiddle and I would be worried about getting a proper receipt . Has he offered you a good discount “ for cash “?

Yep, definitely cheeky .... but you could be cheeky in return and ask for a reduction in price if you paid cash! ??

Yes that was my thought gilly.He does this full time for a living and has plenty of work. It just seems wrong to encourage this sort of behaviour - I’ve been having a lot of work done on my house recently and everyone else has sent proper invoices and I’ve paid by BACs. I just had a fleeting thought that I was being a bit po faced about it and should think it’s up to him whether he declares it or not but it’s not really OK is it?

I think you are right I have paid cash occasionally but never four figure numbers

Four figures could be ... £1000. So would it be okay if it was, say, £700?

If it was someone I knew was going through a bad patch and I gave them £50 to do a small job for me it would feel different. Moral elasticity I know <sighs> but this will be close to £2000

As ffinochio says
' ask for a reduction in price if you paid cash'.
This often happened to us in France.
But the banks did limit the amount of cash you could withdraw at one time.
We sold our tractor for 4000 euro in cash.

Oohhh Fennel I couldn’t do that really I couldn’t

I'd say no, as I have done several times, even when offered a "discount for cash". They are either fiddling their tax or vat.

Having said that, I was not down to my last bawbee. I don't know if I'd be quite so scrupulous in different circumstances if I really could not afford the difference. I'd like to think I would, but they do say everyone has his price,

Bare faced cheek I agree. No way would i be willing ti handover cash i even pay the window cleaner with a cheque. No confusion about payment tgat way. Maybe you could say I'll pay cash on receipt of an invoice if the tradesman persists. I know someone who pretend their son is a policeman as they had this same problem a lot.

We pay large bills by cheque because then you have a record of the payment.

We do pay the window cleaner with cash - it seems daft to write a cheque for such a small amount. It is up to him to pay the VAT.

I pay my window cleaner by BACS and the chap who helps me do the garden in cash.

The VAT on the work we had done recently was over £1,300!

I always ask "how much for cash"? Its their business what they do with the money, not mine. I'm not their moral compass, I just want to get a good price for work I have had done and its nothing to do with me what they chose to do (or not do) with the money
I've paid 4 grand in cash before for a job that was originally quoted for 5. Happy days as far as I'm concerned

I would refuse too. And have done in the past. Maybe it is not my business what they do with the money, but this is my society and I want it properly supported.

If a workman quotes £4,000 then you should have received a proper quotation, itemised and the amount of VAT should be quoted too.
I would be suspicious of someone who did not provide a proper quote for a job of that price.

Did his quote include the VAT.?
Will the bank give you that amount without questioning you about what it is for? They are more careful about the cash they allow nowadays.

but this is my society and I want it properly supported.

It would be you avoiding tax as you are supposed to pay VAT on goods and services.

So those who hand over £4000 in cash don't mind that the exchequer ( ie all of us) missed out on £800 in income tax?
If that's the case, why are worrying about Google and Amazon and secret offshore deals!
Mony a mickle mak's a muckle!

I should have added that the taxes, social charges etc for individual businesses in France are much heavier than in the UK. It's much harder for them to make a living there. We've had a business in UK too.
Most of them have to do some work 'on the black' to be able to survive, put bread on the table for their families.

I was thinking about income tax

Income tax is their own business but if you pay in cash you could be (but not necessarily be) complicit in avoiding VAT.

I wouldn’t even consider paying that amount in cash, it seems incredibly rude to even ask.

I do often pay the window cleaner in cash. But he’s never asked for it that way, and if I don’t have the money to hand he happily takes a cheque. I get a numbered receipt on carbon paper, so i have every faith he lays his VAT.

You can get a quote that includes VAT etc but that’s not really worth the paper it’s written on is it? But thanks anyway for all the replies - I’ll just tell him is choice is cheque or BACs or nothing - that should focus his mind ?