Plumbers and electricians... never issue receipts...?

AARRRGH

Hey,

I've been getting a lot of work done for the past year on the apartment I'm renting.

I've noticed everytime I pay the plumber/electrician they say "I can't give you a receipt now, but I'll post one out to you" and then I have to keep ringing them and they keep coming up with excuses for not sending me out a receipt.

This has happened 5 times now. I've never managed to get a receipt.

Is this a scam they pull so their work is not traceable?

It's highly annoying...!

petes

Did they do a crap job? I presume you need the receipts for the landlord.

Eoin

dublindude wrote:

Hey,

I've been getting a lot of work done for the past year on the apartment I'm renting.

I've noticed everytime I pay the plumber/electrician they say "I can't give you a receipt now, but I'll post one out to you" and then I have to keep ringing them and they keep coming up with excuses for not sending me out a receipt.

This has happened 5 times now. I've never managed to get a receipt.

Is this a scam they pull so their work is not traceable?

It's highly annoying...!

I would say that is exactly the reason - it's a cash job that they don't have to declare. Did they do the whole sucking air between the teeth thing as well before they priced the job?

This is probably better suited to Consumer Issues...

Pigman II

I wonder how they'd respond to a 'no reciept eh?' then 'no cash, I'll pay by you cheque' ultamatum as they are packing up to leave? Same difference I suppose.

nesf

Moved to Consumer Issues.

I agree Dublindude. That kind of crap is very annoying. Reciepts for such work are useful, if only for your own records.

Interceptor

They are cash jobs - they aren't paying VAT and so they can't declare the earnings. Explain before they start the next job that a receipt will be required. Alternatively go into Easons and buy a blank receipt book - they have lots of styles, and issue receipts to yourself....

'c

Dellgirl

Reciept? Trying to get a quote off them is bad enough...Ive never gone down the road of requesting a reciept. Too much hassle. I know......bad me, but it really is impossible to pin them down on anything.

AARRRGH

petes wrote:

Did they do a crap job? I presume you need the receipts for the landlord.

Yes, my landlord needs receipts.

Two of them have done crap jobs - one put a hole in my bath, and one charged me €1200 for a pump which is now squirting water everywhere. Both refuse to come out and fix their work ("We never did any work for you".)

Scumbags.

In future, no receipt, no money. I think I'll pay by cheque also.

Dellgirl

Name and shame Dublindude!

dudara

Don't pay until the receipt is written, or at the very least, pay by cheque. That way the cheque has to be lodged to an account, so there is some paper trail to follow.

BrianD3

IME if you mention receipts or paying by cheque they look at you like you have 5 heads.

I wonder how much is lost to the exchequer every year due to this TAX EVASION. It could run to hundreds of millions of euro. Anytime you pay a plumber, electrician, plasterer, tiler, carpenter, roofer, handyman, builder, landscape gardener, back street mechanic etc. to do any sort of work ask yourself how much tax he'll pay on what you give him.

Dub13

Look at what happened to the Taxi market when they were made give out receipts... apparently 2000 people gave it up.I think that says it all.The Government must be losing a fortune.

MorningStar

It is very simple no reciept then you don't pay them. I am not willing to facilitate tax dodging or the possibility that they could due to my actions.

As your landlord I'd be very angry without a reciept as I couldn't claim the expense.

mountainyman

He is in Harold's X he gives receipts and takes cheques.

Like all plumbers he is ludicrously expensive; but I don't think he is a rip off merchant.

MM

deisemum

Not all tradesmen operate like this and it's not only tradesmen that work for cash. There are lots of professions ie, teachers, accountants, cleaners, dentists, nurses, childminders and lots more who work for cash.

My husband is a s.e. carpenter and issues vat receipts. He just adds the vat to his fee to give the total price and accepts cheques

I'm a childminder myself and am tax compliant.

You could always threaten to report them to the revenue if a receipt is not forthcoming.

Guy:Incognito

BrianD3 wrote:

IME if you mention receipts or paying by cheque they look at you like you have 5 heads.

I wonder how much is lost to the exchequer every year due to this TAX EVASION. It could run to hundreds of millions of euro. Anytime you pay a plumber, electrician, plasterer, tiler, carpenter, roofer, handyman, builder, landscape gardener, back street mechanic etc. to do any sort of work ask yourself how much tax he'll pay on what you give him.

Good luck trying to get them to do th ejb then. If they are doing crappy little jobs they just wont bother doing them if its not worth their while. At the very least the price of the job will go up by the amount of tax they pay, meaning you will be paying it anyway.

As deisemum says, people in all walks of life do cash jobs.

BrianD3

deisemum wrote:

Not all tradesmen operate like this and it's not only tradesmen that work for cash. There are lots of professions ie, teachers, accountants, cleaners, dentists, nurses, childminders and lots more who work for cash.

Teachers do not work for cash. They are paid a salary by the Dept of Education and every single cent of it is accounted for. Admittedly some teachers evade tax by doing grinds in their spare time. Nurses do not work for cash. Dentists are often paid in cash but generally don't have a problem being paid using other means or issuing receipts. And the price is the same whether you pay by cheque or cash.

My experience with builders and tradesman - if you want to pay by a method other than cash, the price will be dearer. So you can either pay more or facilitate tax evasion. Ask questions and they won't bother doing the work. The building trade is very much a sellers market these days so this is no problem for them.

I'm mainly talking about "small" jobs i.e <10 grand but I know of similar carry on for much more expensive amounts i.e buying new houses where the buyer is offered a substantial "discount" if a portion of the money is paid with a suitcase full of 50 euro notes. Now of course the builder may have been going to declare every cent of the money in the suitcase and it could all be above board....or maybe not.

deisemum

BrianD3 Quote:
Originally Posted by deisemum
Not all tradesmen operate like this and it's not only tradesmen that work for cash. There are lots of professions ie, teachers, accountants, cleaners, dentists, nurses, childminders and lots more who work for cash.

Teachers do not work for cash. They are paid a salary by the Dept of Education and every single cent of it is accounted for. Admittedly some teachers evade tax by doing grinds in their spare time. Nurses do not work for cash. Dentists are often paid in cash but generally don't have a problem being paid using other means or issuing receipts. And the price is the same whether you pay by cheque or cash.


There are lots of teachers including primary schools that provide grinds and this income is not declared. I know some nurses who work for cash that is undeclared looking after elderly people in their own homes on a part time basis. I have worked as a dental nurse and know for a fact that some work is carried out and the income for this is not declared. It's going on in all walks of life not just the ones I gave as examples. A lot of the time customers/clients will ask if they'll get a discount if they pay cash as they want to save on the costs.

Guy:Incognito

BrianD3 wrote:

Teachers do not work for cash .

Thats a very definite thing to say. .........especially while executing a massive climb down (and contradiction) in the following sentence.

BrianD3 wrote:

Admittedly some teachers evade tax by doing grinds in their spare .

Grinds is the equivelant of a tradesman ding a cash job. ALL of their work isnt cash o hand, no tax paid, work. They do nixers.

BrianD3

Stekelly wrote:

Thats a very definite thing to say. .........especially while executing a massive climb down (and contradiction) in the following sentence.

Grinds is the equivelant of a tradesman ding a cash job. ALL of their work isnt cash o hand, no tax paid, work. They do nixers.

Its not a contradiction or climbdown. Teachers can evade some tax by doing nixers but they're there's nowhere near the same amount of tax dodging as with self employed tradesman who are doing cash jobs MOST of the time. Day in day out, not just in their spare time. If you don't believe this you are as naive as hell and obviously have never gotten in a tradesman to do any work for you.

Also the original statement was that teachers "work for cash". Technically they don't as they are employed by the DOE who don't pay cash.

deisemum

BrianD3 wrote:

Its not a contradiction or climbdown. Teachers can evade some tax by doing nixers but they're there's nowhere near the same amount of tax dodging as with self employed tradesman who are doing cash jobs MOST of the time. Day in day out, not just in their spare time. If you don't believe this you are as naive as hell and obviously have never gotten in a tradesman to do any work for you.

Also the original statement was that teachers "work for cash". Technically they don't as they are employed by the DOE who don't pay cash.

The comment "work for cash" did not refer to that being their only form of income. There are a lot of teachers doing nixers, offering grinds and only want to be paid in cash. There's nothing technical about it, but this is getting away from the point and not wanting to turn it into having a go at teachers but to reiterate that it goes on in all walks of life.

RainyDay

The real problem is the number of the customers of the plumbers/electricians/teachers who are quite happy to participate in the black economy while taking advantage of the 'cash discount' which they know well equates to tax evasion. And the same people will have the neck to whinge about Haughey/Lawlor/Flynn et al. Pure hypocracy.

Guy:Incognito

BrianD3 wrote:

Its not a contradiction or climbdown. Teachers can evade some tax by doing nixers but they're there's nowhere near the same amount of tax dodging as with self employed tradesman who are doing cash jobs MOST of the time. Day in day out, not just in their spare time. If you don't believe this you are as naive as hell and obviously have never gotten in a tradesman to do any work for you.

Also the original statement was that teachers "work for cash". Technically they don't as they are employed by the DOE who don't pay cash.

So it all depends on the AMOUNTof tax evaded? It's ok for teachers as they dont do it as much as a tradesman?

As far as being naive about tradesmen, my whole family are tradesmen.

rooferPete

Hi,

A thread like this makes me I am self employed tax compliant, Vat registered, Paye, Prsi up to date and hold a C2 card that confirms all of the above.

The joke is if I mention 13.5% VAT the average consumer dives for cover, What about Cash ? the question from the majority of consumers.

Well our books must balance, so I don't care what form of payment the consumer prefers my Bank Manager likes regular lodgements and all funds lodged are subject to 13.5% vat.

Receipt or not it's your choice but I charge the VAT even if I don't tell the customer, I have been doing the same thing for years even when the VAT was 3%.

Ask the right questions, does the tradesman have a current C2 ? does he / she have a current Safe Pass ? do they have Construction Skills Cards ?

If the consumer wants the playing field level wih everybody paying their fair share then it's up to you.

Please don't tar us all with the same brush.

.

deisemum

RooferPete, my husband operates like yourself and he knows he has lost out on some work over the years because other builders were doing a nixer and didn't charge the VAT but because he included it in the quote he was a bit dearer.

As you pointed out he has financial commitments and as he employs an apprentice he has to have a steady income.

mad m

rooferPete wrote:

Please don't tar us all with the same brush..

Couldnt agree more.