Cash in hand

[johnckirk]

The Telegraph recently published an article: "Paying cash in hand is 'diddling the country', says HMRC's Dave Hartnett". I understand his point, but I disagree

Comments

[stagknight]

He is correct when he says that people not paying tax results in less tax being paid. That's kind of obvious. But putting the responsibility for 'whistleblowing' in the hands of the people who have a significant financial disincentive to do so seems a bit foolish, regardless to whether it's the most labour-efficient place to put it.

[sulkyblue]

I haven't read his wider comments to put them in full context, but I don't necessarily disagree with him. As you explain in the example above, how can HMRC prove anything about whether the plumber has had a quiet year, far easier to ask the people to fully understand what they're enabling by paying cash. Obviously micro payments at shops are harder to trace, although unless chip shop owners want to pay for everything including rent/mortgage using pound coins, they're at a disadvantage ;0

[johnckirk]

I think we're basically saying the same thing: sometimes it's dodgy, but not always

[johnckirk]

I did like your comment about paying rent in pound coins. I read an article recently about the Bristol pound: apparently business can pay their council tax in the local currency. I assume that the council expect them to pay online, but it would be an amusing way to get rid of any Bristol coins that they've accrued!