[Positivity]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2954630/Labour-demands-families-receipts-cash-hand-job-s-just-10-trim-hedge.html
No more cash jobs - sorry all windies

[andyM]

Yes im sure Balls insists on receipts for everything..... so he can claim it back on MP's expenses! 

[Ian101]

read article and surprised that we weren't mentioned .... them hedge cutters dodgy ... or am I getting mixed up with hedge funds that dodge paying taxes

without getting all political if that's all they can think to worry about not sure I could even trust them to run my post office savings book let alone the country  

[Tom White]

So I give a receipt - which I do for all my commercial work - and how's that going to stop anyone from fiddling their accounts?

[Positivity]

read article and surprised that we weren't mentioned .... them hedge cutters dodgy ... or am I getting mixed up with hedge funds that dodge paying taxes

without getting all political if that's all they can think to worry about not sure I could even trust them to run my post office savings book let alone the country  

Homeowners have a duty to demand receipts for the smallest cash job carried out by gardeners, cleaners and handymen, Ed Balls said yesterday.

[Pete Thompson]

what a complete idiot

"Homeowners have a duty to demand receipts for the smallest cash job carried out by gardeners, cleaners and handymen, Ed Balls said yesterday."

So home owners now have the responsibility to become the tax police?  What my gardener does with the money I pay him, whether cash or not, is his business.  It's up to him to sort his tax out, not me.

And what use is a receipt?  What will householders do with it?  Will they send it to HMRC?  Will they follow us home and watch us do our books to make sure we are declaring all our income?  A receipt is no help at all.

Also, call me crazy, but isn't it the multi-millionaires and global corporations like Google, Starbucks, Amazon et al that are avoiding literally billions in tax, rather than window cleaners and gardeners?  I guess the rich guys and the big companies are too much like hard work - and probably party donors too - so we'll go after the little guy just trying to earn an honest living.

God save us from moronic labour party loonies.

[Tom White]

Personally, I'd love all my customers to pay me by bank transfer, rather than cash or cheque.  I've a few that pay me that way and by the time I've arrived home, the money is in our account.

[Spruce]

Yes im sure Balls insists on receipts for everything..... so he can claim it back on MP's expenses! 

 

[Spruce]

So I give a receipt - which I do for all my commercial work - and how's that going to stop anyone from fiddling their accounts?

Tosh, when I first started cleaning I booked an appointment with HMRC to ensure I did what was required properly.

One of the things the lady who I was blessed to see clearly told me that I needed to keep a list of each of my customers, their names, addresses and telephone numbers. From a sales perspective I agreed with this as standard practice, but asked her why.
She told me so that they could ask for the list at any time and check with my customers so they could see if I was working and not declaring the income for tax purposes.

A was ataken back for a moment before replying by asking which list I was to give them. I very quickly realised that that reply wasn't one of my finest moments so quickly shutup. I'm glad she looked confused with my answer. I expected a tax investigation very quickly after that.
It was probably why I bought George within a short period of time after we started. We log everything, one off cleans, tips, etc ( although I don't know what to do about those occassional bottles of wine we get given at Christmas time.) I even went so far as keeping a daily weather report on an excel spreadsheet to justify the non working days.

I also primed a lot of my customers that I will always be able to tell them dates of cleans and prices charged if they ever get asked by the Receiver for that info.

We bought a round of a fellow cleaner my son knew - he had done it for years but never knew many of his customer's names. So we made a point of ensuring that the paperwork was updated with that info.

We clean a house for a couple of women and they insist on a receipt. Its because they split household expenses and this helps them keep it right for their monthly expenses 'claims.'
  

[rosskesava]

There's no law that says a tradesman has to even give a receipt or that the customer has to even keep a record or anything when paying for services.

All I have to keep is a record of work done and income.

[Pete Thompson]

She told me so that they could ask for the list at any time and check with my customers so they could see if I was working and not declaring the income for tax purposes.

So there would be nothing to stop you maintaining an 'official' list of customers with say, half of them (those that pay in cash perhaps) and an 'unofficial' list with all of them.

And if HMRC ask, you supply them with the official list.

As they have nothing to check it against, what use is it?

You could pocket the cash, undeclared, from those not on the official list and they would have no way of finding out.

I'm not saying this is the right thing to do (nor would I recommend it) I'm just pointing out how utterly pointless her instruction was.

[davids3511]

She told me so that they could ask for the list at any time and check with my customers so they could see if I was working and not declaring the income for tax purposes.

So there would be nothing to stop you maintaining an 'official' list of customers with say, half of them (those that pay in cash perhaps) and an 'unofficial' list with all of them.

And if HMRC ask, you supply them with the official list.

As they have nothing to check it against, what use is it?

You could pocket the cash, undeclared, from those not on the official list and they would have no way of finding out.

I'm not saying this is the right thing to do (nor would I recommend it) I'm just pointing out how utterly pointless her instruction was.

That's called keeping two sets of books and can get very complicated. One slipup and your done for evasion. Used to work in accounts years ago, the tax inspectors were very good and knew exactly what to look for.

[davids3511]

I have to say Ed's a total hypocrite, he and his wife were both claiming for a house each to the tune of 48k total per year.

[Walter Mitty]

I've only ever asked for a receipt if it's something I can claim tax relief on or if I need some sort of guarantee for the work.  Things like repairs to my flat when I was renting it out - particulary servicing of the heating by a CORGI registered tradesperson as I would need to cover my back if a safety issue developed.
I give a receipt (as an invoice) to any commercial jobs and I will give a receipt for payment to any residential customers who request it.
All this would do, if it became law, would be to weigh down small businesses with yet more paperwork.  As usual, legitimate traders would suffer and fly by nights would continue to get away with everything.

[advanced]

That's why you should not vote for those idiots
double standards  that will ruin this country

[Walter Mitty]

An Italian guy once told me that in Italy, it was a legal requirement to supply a receipt for any money paid.  How closely it was adhered to is another matter.  Personally, I wouldn't want to do that.  It's not about evasion - it's about the paperwork hassle and nightmare.  I would have to increase my costs a bit to recover the costs of buying duplicate books and time taken to write them out.  It could cost 20 minutes per day plus the stationery - depending how much detail needs to be written.

[no way Jose]

well. What would they do then if let's say 90% of your customers only ever paid you cash in hand ?

[Perfect Windows]

I'm all for it.  People should pay tax.

Tax pays for the roads you drive along to get to your customers.  It pays for the ambulance that will collect you if you fall and hurt yourself.  It pays for help if you're out of work.  It pays for many of the things that make this a worthwhile country to live in.

If you take cash in hand for a job and don't declare it, you have no right to complain when either public services fail or when someone earning more than you avoids their tax.

Anyone asks me for a receipt gets one and I sleep well at night knowing that if the tax man comes a-knocking, I'll have no problems.

Vin

[PoleKing]

I'm all for it.  People should pay tax.

Tax pays for the roads you drive along to get to your customers.  It pays for the ambulance that will collect you if you fall and hurt yourself.  It pays for help if you're out of work.  It pays for many of the things that make this a worthwhile country to live in.

If you take cash in hand for a job and don't declare it, you have no right to complain when either public services fail or when someone earning more than you avoids their tax.

Anyone asks me for a receipt gets one and I sleep well at night knowing that if the tax man comes a-knocking, I'll have no problems.

Vin

+1 to a point. I still don't trust 'er maj when her lads come a knocking.

[NBwcs]

"well. What would they do then if let's say 90% of your customers only ever paid you cash in hand ?"

Vast majority of the mrs hairdressing clients pay cash, no different from us really.