Crash repairs - Cash only

Baby01032012

Hi all,

Did some damage to side and rear panels of my car. Got a cash repair garage to repair the damage. Agreed €700, happy with price.

However due to collect today and im told its cash only. Im happy to pay cheque, laser debit or credit card, but €700 is a lot of cash plus hassle of having to go to a bank to withdraw.

Does this sound legit? He argued that its a trade price etc, that he would be loosing money to install debit facilities, also if i had wanted an invoice he would have added VAT, i dont want an invoice, my only concern is paying over that amount in cash. Is this the norm?

Many thanks.

biko

Some mechanics don't have card facilities and since banks charge extra for cards and cheques I suppose it can happen.
As long as you get an itemised receipt I wouldn't really worry.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Hiding it from the tax man.... cash into the hand and according to revenue the job never happened.

It reminds me of a song.

No income tax, no VAT
no money back, no garuentee
We'll cut prices at your doooorrr.

you see where thats going !

zarquon

Common enough practice in some places. Cash only transaction to keep the revenue off the books and hidden from the tax man!

naughtysmurf

Recently had a job done, guy said it was €600 cash or €600+VAT if paying by cheque,,,Guy got cash.

Del2005

Baby01032012 wrote: »

Hi all,

Did some damage to side and rear panels of my car. Got a cash repair garage to repair the damage. Agreed €700, happy with price.

However due to collect today and im told its cash only. Im happy to pay cheque, laser debit or credit card, but €700 is a lot of cash plus hassle of having to go to a bank to withdraw.

Does this sound legit? He argued that its a trade price etc, that he would be loosing money to install debit facilities, also if i had wanted an invoice he would have added VAT, i dont want an invoice, my only concern is paying over that amount in cash. Is this the norm?

Many thanks.

You went to a cash only garage and complain that they only take cash!!

Having a card machine costs money, both a subscription and percentage of transactions, that most back alley mechanics don't spend so that they can work for less.

ScouseMouse

It could be he is doing you a cheaper job by not declaring it for VAT. Of course, if you dont mind adding 23% onto some of the bill for materials and more for the labour, fire away.....

Del2005

superscouse wrote: »

It could be he is doing you a cheaper job by not declaring it for VAT. Of course, if you dont mind adding 23% onto some of the bill for materials and more for the labour, fire away.....

13% for labour and any parts fitted, 23% only kicks in if you buy the parts yourself.

naughtysmurf

So, €700 or €791 OP

ScouseMouse

Del2005 wrote: »

13% for labour and any parts fitted, 23% only kicks in if you buy the parts yourself.

I was unsure of the exact breakdown, thats why I was vague, but surely parts supplied by mechanic would be 23%, while the labour is 13%?

Tails142

superscouse wrote: »

I was unsure of the exact breakdown, thats why I was vague, but surely parts supplied by mechanic would be 23%, while the labour is 13%?

If the labour makes up must of the cost the whole thing is charged at 13.5, not sure what the exact proportion needs to be, maybe two thirds?

George Dalton

Tails142 wrote: »

If the labour makes up must of the cost the whole thing is charged at 13.5, not sure what the exact proportion needs to be, maybe two thirds?

The 2/3 rule doesn't apply to motor vehicle repairs. If the invoice is for parts and labour then the whole lot is charged out at 13.5% regardless of the proportion of parts vs labour.

There are certain exceptions to this, tyres and batteries being the main ones. These are always charged at 23%

corktina

you can normally draw up to €700 from an atm

corktina

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Hiding it from the tax man.... cash into the hand and according to revenue the job never happened.

It reminds me of a song.

No income tax, no VAT
no money back, no garuentee
We'll cut prices at your doooorrr.

you see where thats going !

didn't remind you too well then....

black or white, rich or broke, we'll cut prices at a strokeeeeeee

doolox

By imposing too much taxes on every form of economic endeavour.

Houses are too dear to rent because of the high taxes imposed on landlords income with reduced allowances and higher and more taxes, PRTB, LPT and now water taxes.

Likewise the main dealers repair costs are too high for most motorists so they go to the "generic" or backstreet mechanic for their work, paying cash.

My wife tells me that hairdressers operate the same way, home based ones can charge half of what the shop based ones have to charge in order to meet the rapacious demands of the greedy tax officials and greedy landlords.

Baby01032012

OP here

Many thanks for all the posts, much appreciated. Sorry I didn't get chance to respond to posts earlier. I just wanted to get views on paying cash which I did. They are a Main Street main garage so wasn't expecting cash only option. I saw the price as a fair price but didn't see the price as trade or cash price. Wife is happy with the work so will pay him in cash.

Voodoomelon

These guys really annoy the crap out of me. As someone who runs things by the book and go to the cost and effort of accommodating all methods of payment for my customers, it makes me see red when i'm given a "cash price" when I have to deal with mechanics, builders or similar trades.

If they tell you they'll have to charge VAT if it's not cash, it's 100% tax avoidance. Nothing to do with the cost of debit/credit machines, they want it all in their back pocket.

I've started sticking it to these guys lately; if they want it in cash, they can knock another 10-20% off as they aren't declaring income tax either.

Dord

I had a load of work done on my car a few years ago and the mechanic didn't have a card machine. Instead, he had me pay off money on one of his trade accounts over the phone with the company. Fair nuff. It worked for both of us.

EDIT: got an invoice with vat, just a different method of payment.