Tax cheats, do you know one?

The tax system needs to be reformed. The income tax threshold has not been increased for 5 years and the 40% rate now starts at 50k a year, which means people like police constables are now dragged into the higer rate. I think the tax threshold should be increased to 20k a year and the 40% rate shouldn't start until you start paying 60k a year. Also the 45% top tax rate should be abolished.

Don’t you think we need more tax income rather than less?

I think we need to tax wealth more (note wealth, not income).

No Government has the guts to do so.

Any tradesman or business that asks for payment in cash. No. I won't report you but I won't collude with tax evasion.
Cafes that have signs all over saying "cash is king". No thanks I'll go elsewhere.

I'm more than happy to pay anyone in cash. What they do with that cash thereafter is none of my business.

I have said frequently on GN that no Government whatever their persuasion has the balls to go after the big multi national conglomerates who play the system and thereby pay very little tax on their £ billions.

The so called man/women on the street on PAYE along with SME business owners pay all their taxes, and in some situations a proportion is paid upfront.

It is those who are able to get cash in hand jobs and who I imagine (I do not know for certain) do not declare all of their income.

I use cash when eating out and on some purchases I see no reason why the bank should know how and when I spend my money.

I've no reason to suspect someone needing cash is necessarily not paying child maintenance, or on a fiddle.

Why would I?

As a grown up, I expect them to have sorted out their arrangements legally and clearly.

That's where my responsibility ends.

I sometimes need cash, just because almost everything do is online these days, so it's rare for me to have a couple of pounds in my purse.

If I ask someone to fetch me in milk, then I want to pay them.

Raffle tickets, monthly entrance fees to clubs (I'm not talking about subscriptions) etc. Church collections took although I am assured on here that some churches are up to date with card machines.

It was always handy to have coins or a note to put into a charity box but now I find that those collecting for charity want you to sign up to a monthly direct debit, not drop a donation in a tin. I'm sure they miss out by not having thst facility.

GrannyGravy13

I use cash when eating out and on some purchases I see no reason why the bank should know how and when I spend my money.

Use it or lose it.

I only use cash for small purchases and don’t pay tradesmen in cash. I couldn’t care less if the bank or credit card company knows how and where I spend my money.

Claremont

I do, many.

We've got our account set up so we can pay regular workers by BACS, but even so a warning flashes up on the screen to check if we're sure we mean to make this payment.

Which reminds me - we had a scam phone call yesterday saying suspicious payments had been made out of our account. Did we want to speak to a member of their team who could help?
(At least, I hope it was a scam.)

Claremont

I do, many.

Tax cheats, do you know one?

How do you know many?
Are you in a business where you know others who are cheating?
Or do you work for HMRC?

Doodledog I pay the window cleaner in cash as his visits are ad hoc, so standing orders wouldn’t work, but I think that’s the only one, and it’s £10 every 3 weeks or so. I rarely have cash on me these days anyway.
I never know exactly when mine's coming(supposedly monthly), so I do a bank transfer each time as a couple of others have also said, might that work for you? As an aside I'm envious of your price I pay £16 for a very small house.

I pay £5 for my flat.
Mind you, he does a terrible job.

At the end of each year our window cleaner gives us a list of the dates when he will come the following year together with confirmation of prices for that year. He isn’t cheap but he’s very good and totally reliable. I would be wary of one who turns up ‘as and when’, maybe doesn’t charge a lot and also wants payment in cash. Is he fitting you in with another paid job and not declaring all his income?

It's his lookout if he is.
I no longer work for hmrc (though I used to)

Barleyfields

At the end of each year our window cleaner gives us a list of the dates when he will come the following year together with confirmation of prices for that year. He isn’t cheap but he’s very good and totally reliable. I would be wary of one who turns up ‘as and when’, maybe doesn’t charge a lot and also wants payment in cash. Is he fitting you in with another paid job and not declaring all his income?

'As and when' for my window cleaner, employed by a company and arrives in a liveried van, is approximately every month, but no set date. He's very good and does an excellent job. Surely yours doesn't actually come on the set date even if it's pouring with rain? I get irritated enough when it starts to rain within a couple of hours after mine have just been cleaned.

I pay window cleaner and cleaner by BACS.
In the past I have found some workmen hint that they will do a cheaper job if paid in cash. This means, if accepted, I would be complicit in tax evasion I presume?
I don’t engage such workmen.

I find it rather disheartening that people think that using the legal tender of the UK is suspicious and in all probability leads to tax fraud.

Doodledog

It is (legal tender) but how many people rail against those who claim benefits and earn a bit on the side, yet collude in tax evasion by paying tradespeople in cash to get a bit off the price?

I don’t know any tax cheats, but I can’t see that anyone would tell me even if they were.
I don’t get any money ‘off’ from my window cleaner , his price is his price, but he only takes cash anyway.

ViceVersa

Farzanah

I consider paying tax is a social responsibility which helps to pay for the services on which we all depend, and I am happy to do so.
I would have thought that tax lost through international companies who operate in U.K. but do not pay full U.K. tax through complex tax arrangements, far outweighs the sum lost through benefit fraud?

I was just about to say something similar. Isn't it funny how some people get their knickers all in a twist about individuals not paying a bit of tax (and I'm not condoning tax evasion at all, by the way), but when it comes to these companies who go all out to avoid paying tax in the UK, somehow that's not so bad?

Who says it’s ’somehow not so bad’? It bloody well is as far as I’m concerned!
But that doesn’t mean I’d excuse benefit cheats. If I knew any, I’d dob them in as soon as look at them. Dh and I pay our tax, always have done, and I despise anyone who thinks they’re entitled to cheat and fiddle at the taxpayer’s expense.

Oreo

Doodledog

It is (legal tender) but how many people rail against those who claim benefits and earn a bit on the side, yet collude in tax evasion by paying tradespeople in cash to get a bit off the price?

I don’t know any tax cheats, but I can’t see that anyone would tell me even if they were.
I don’t get any money ‘off’ from my window cleaner , his price is his price, but he only takes cash anyway.

As you don't get money off (why the "" ""?) then I'd have thought it was obvious that that's not what I mean.

I'm talking about tradesmen who offer £X00 as a quote, or £X00 minus 20% for cash. It's blindingly obvious that they are doing it because they aren't declaring the job.

Rosie51

Barleyfields

At the end of each year our window cleaner gives us a list of the dates when he will come the following year together with confirmation of prices for that year. He isn’t cheap but he’s very good and totally reliable. I would be wary of one who turns up ‘as and when’, maybe doesn’t charge a lot and also wants payment in cash. Is he fitting you in with another paid job and not declaring all his income?

'As and when' for my window cleaner, employed by a company and arrives in a liveried van, is approximately every month, but no set date. He's very good and does an excellent job. Surely yours doesn't actually come on the set date even if it's pouring with rain? I get irritated enough when it starts to rain within a couple of hours after mine have just been cleaned.

Yes, mine comes whatever the weather. I really don’t mind if it’s raining if he doesn’t. I could send him away, as I know others do, but I don’t. He has to earn a living. He comes every month and the windows will soon be mucky again whether it’s wet or dry when he cleans them.