What's the deal with builders always wanting cash?

[Mr Sparkle]

It seems like everywhere i turn its the same story

The price for your loft conversion will be £35K, however if you pay by cash then we can offer a discount and do the job for £31K

Can anyone explain what the deal is with this?

Apparently all prices are inclusive of VAT

Even if you got a 'receipt' detailing the payment made, would you still be a fool to hand over cash?

 

[Mottie]

Would you get a vat receipt if you took the lower price and paid cash?

 

[^woody^]

Cash is still king.

If you pay for the completed work, why should it matter if you pay in cash?

 

[Notch7]

Pay him in £50s he will hate that

 

[^woody^]

Scottish ones too! He'll empty a barrow of compo down the cavity.

 

[Old Salt]

Because he’s telling the tax man it was 15k’s worth of work

 

[scbk]

Pay him in £50s he will hate that

Easier to pay in £100 notes!

 

[kingandy2nd]

We've got some
Half price cracked ice
And miles and miles of carpet tiles
TVs
Deep freeze
And David Bowie LPs.
Ball games
Gold chains,
What's-names
Pictures frames
And leather goods
And Trevor Francis track suits.
From a mush in Shepherds Bush

No income tax, no VAT
No money back, no guarantee
Black or white, rich or poor
We'll cut prices at a stroke

God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street
Magnifique, Hooky Street

 

[Nige F]

Pay him in £50s he will hate that

No one want £50's ,banks don't keep many of them

 

[mattylad]

Because he has 2 sets of books, one for him and one for the taxman where he does not declare it all.

AFAIK it's common practice

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Would you get a vat receipt if you took the lower price and paid cash?

They never mentioned.

Is that the key? Ensuring that the you get a VAT receipt?

Cash is still king.

If you pay for the completed work, why should it matter if you pay in cash?

This is always the rhetoric before work gets done..

However when things go wrong (i.e. dodgy building work which you only find out about months down the line), the first thing people ask is

'How did you pay the builder?'

and when you say 'cash', they laugh and try to shame you..

Then on their high horse they say, 'only cowboys ask for cash.. at least with a bank transfer you have a real name/ company name/ fund that can be traced'

 

[Mottie]

Should make no difference how you pay as long as you get a proper, signed receipt that tallies with an invoice recording exactly what it is for.