Paying tradesmen cash in hand morally wrong - minister

[realBabelfish]

I can see where he is coming from, i work 40 hours a week, i pay my taxes, and so should everyone else. This includes personal tutors, cleaners, and craftsmen.

The only benefit i can see to the whole thing is there is no paper trail if you're employing somebody you really shouldnt be.

agreed, but it seems a bit hypocritical that MPs dont want to close tax loopholes for the rich but get very angry when the working classes dont pay their tax.

sort out your mates avoiding billions first then go after the rest.

at least paying cash we get things cheaper! not like vodafone etc charge less because they dont pay tax.

 

[Amp34]

Why don't they sort out the big boys like play and amazon who both snake their money through jersey.? They must be two of the biggest UK retailers. Certainly avoiding more tax than bob the builder

I think that is the point... It's all very well "everyone" being up in arms due to taxavoiding companies like Play and Amazon but a lot of these same people are all happy to facilitate other companies evade tax.

The world is full of hypocrites, including those that blast the big companies for doing what is legally right while helping others avoid tax illegally...

 

[Danthus]

I think that is the point... It's all very well "everyone" being up in arms due to taxavoiding companies like Play and Amazon but a lot of these same people are all happy to facilitate other companies evade tax.

The world is full of hypocrites, including those that blast the big companies for doing what is legally right while helping others avoid tax illegally...

And those that shop with the companies that avoid tax.

 

[Mickie]

the gov avoid tax, do we have a say in kicking them all out ?

 

[Amp34]

Nail on the head.
You have maybe 100 or so massive companies who probably like to use as many loopholes as possible, and millions of tradesman who get cash in hand. It's quite obvious that looking at the major companies would be a better use of time.

The problem is they do that... then get blasted by the public when it turns out it affects other things (see reducing tax avoidance schemes by individuals and companies affecting charitable donations). People can't have it both ways... Unless of course you want seperate laws for seperate companies? Then you open a world of problems...

 

[jaybee]

That is true but lets be completely honest here, most people don't carry the hundreds of pounds in cash that most trade bills come to. They draw it specifically because they know said tradesperson will probably give them a discount for cash, as they then don't have to put it through the books. The exact reason is left unsaid but both sides are complicit.

I don't necessarily agree with the minister but lets not cheapen the arguement by pretending we aren't all fully aware of what's going on.

Totally agree with this. I don't get the opportunity to ask my customers to pay me in cash to avoid tax, why should tradesmen?

 

[bitslice]

I can see where he is coming from, i work 40 hours a week, i pay my taxes, and so should everyone else. This includes personal tutors, cleaners, and craftsmen.

Yes, let's sort the economy out by taxing part time cleaners who are probably all single mums, they must be raking it in.
Horrible poor people doing poverty line jobs and ruining everything for office workers, jail is too good for them! How dare they exploit their dead end job with no future and no possible way out because they have no employable skills.
Putting your hand in other people's **** isn't enough, I demand they pay every last penny to HMRC, after all it is the moral thing to do.

Hurrah for good honest politicians and their saintly banker chums who went to the same public school, for saving us from moral decay!

 

[sketchytom]

who cares about tax. its not as if it gets spent on meaning full things. just a big lump of steel in the name of 'art' near a round about

or to build a mosque - temple whatever it is near the city centre

or even to cut the bloody grass on the council land across the road from mine!!!

 

[edscdk]

who cares about tax. its not as if it gets spent on meaning full things. just a big lump of steel in the name of 'art' near a round about

or to build a mosque - temple whatever it is near the city centre

or even to cut the bloody grass on the council land across the road from mine!!!

yep, we need a system like greece.... they are doign great

 

[Efour]

Simple answer. Send them back.

 

[Amp34]

Yes, let's sort the economy out by taxing part time cleaners who are probably all single mums, they must be raking it in.
Horrible poor people doing poverty line jobs and ruining everything for office workers, jail is too good for them! How dare they exploit their dead end job with no future and no possible way out because they have no employable skills.
Putting your hand in other people's **** isn't enough, I demand they pay every last penny to HMRC, after all it is the moral thing to do.

Hurrah for good honest politicians and their saintly banker chums who went to the same public school, for saving us from moral decay!

Erm... A part time cleaner probably wouldn't hit the tax free allowance... SO wouldn't pay tax anyway. Try again.

 

[martinbeaver]

MP's are the last people on the planet to talk about morality after the amount of money they bankrolled in expenses.

 

[bitslice]

Erm... A part time cleaner probably wouldn't hit the tax free allowance... SO wouldn't pay tax anyway. Try again.

Yet you miss the whole point of my post?
You appear to have the same lack of awareness as that politician, but thank you for clarifying the tax position of one particular job.

 

[estebanrey]

Yet you miss the whole point of my post?
You appear to have the same lack of awareness as that politician, but thank you for clarifying the tax position of one particular job.

But that point is moot with your example.

 

[bitslice]

But that point is moot with your example.

You want it explaining too? FFS.
The poster was picking on one of the most poorly paid job sectors which is coincidentally one of the most difficult to progress from. The idea of selecting them as a prime example of tax evasion is pretty sad IMO, akin to ****ging off single mothers as a generic group of spongers. The role is irrelevant, it is the concept that poor people need to be picked on first as low hanging fruit, as opposed to the more obvious gains from white collar tax evasion.

Pedantry adds nothing, would you care to check my spelling too?

 

[realBabelfish]

who cares about tax. its not as if it gets spent on meaning full things. just a big lump of steel in the name of 'art' near a round about

or to build a mosque - temple whatever it is near the city centre

or even to cut the bloody grass on the council land across the road from mine!!!

surely tax money doesnt go towards mosques.... if it does i would be amazed (and annoyed)

 

[estebanrey]

You want it explaining too? FFS.
The poster was picking on one of the most poorly paid job sectors which is coincidentally one of e most difficult to progress from. The idea of selecting them as a prime example of tax evasion is pretty sad IMO, akin to ****ging off single mothers as a generic group of spongers.

Pedantry adds nothing.

But your whole rant doesn't work if you change the job to one that does pay a substantial amount of tax.

It's not pedantry, it's reality. Few cleaners, even full time ones, will pay tax or so little it's really not worth evading anyway so you don't have a point (a workable one anyone).

You can't make an emotive argument (which is what you were trying to do) that isn't based on reality and then claim you still have a point.

 

[estebanrey]

surely tax money doesnt go towards mosques.... if it does i would be amazed (and annoyed)

It depends how you look at it, the building of a mosque (or any other religious building) may be able to claim tax exemption status as a 'charity' so while they aren't receiving tax payers money, they are getting to keep money that otherwise they would have had to hand over if it were any other type of building.

 

[bitslice]

It's not pedantry, it's reality. Few cleaners, even full time ones, will pay tax or so little it's really not worth evading anyway so you does not have a point (a workable one anyone).

Stop obsessing on the role, god it is like having bhavv back, it's been blissful without him and you want to fill his shoes?
Name89 mentioned cleaners, I responded, put your calculator away.

 

[Sefirosu]

Silly and petty I agree. It might be morally wrong but it's trivial, and something done to help someone.