Cash only businesses

koutoubia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188303#Comment_118188303

Let me simpifly it even further.

Revenue make up a number and you have to pay it.

They are never wrong!

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118187818#Comment_118187818

Yeah but let's just declare 16k and the rest Is tax free!!

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188529#Comment_118188529

Not true at all.

Revenue are actually impartial.

They just insist you pay what you owe.

No more or no less.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188324#Comment_118188324

Does all of it make it to the bank?!

koutoubia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188719#Comment_118188719

From personal experience I will disagree with you but thats an argument for another day!

Jinglejangle69

Chinese take aways. Still a lot don't accept cards.

Surely revenue are closing in on them?

The most obvious tax avoidance.

Use my debit card for almost everything, but would always have some cash, like to keep around €50 in my purse, you never now when the card readers could go down.

My Mam always said, "make sure you always have your taxi fare home" and it kind of stuck with me. At that time, taxis were all cash only.

My GP only started taking cards in the last year. Before that it was all cash.

marty whelan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188748#Comment_118188748

I used to work in revenue, they don't deploy their resources towards low hanging fruit. Don't target take aways, taxi drivers etc.

freshpopcorn

I think certain businesses know what works for them and some may feel there better off without card payment.

I do get the impression from cash only businesses is they aren't overly worried about somebody walking away from them because they don't use cash.

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188721#Comment_118188721

I like to keep a bit back for emergencies, 50% seems fair for everyone 🙃

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188417#Comment_118188417

Agreed, I know a number of small business owners, the impression out there is everything is nice and dandy since re opening, it is absolutely not the case, I'm hearing business levels down as much as 40%, a lot of shoppers gone on line and this before small businesses even start dealing with substantial rent arrears, warehoused tax debt and dealing with insurance companies still refusing to pay out on business interruption polices. Separately and quickly forgotten in all the PUP bashing that's gone on is the fact there are still 350k employees of private businesses having 75% of their wages paid through wage subsidy schemes.

There's a Pile of economic Shyte coming very , very soon

Stovepipe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188151#Comment_118188151

A friend of mine owns a small garage and his accountant met him every year to do his returns and the conversation went along the lines of " this is how much you will earn this year....". After a few years of identical returns,despite the actual vagaries of the world of small garages,my friend asked why the sum was always identical and the accountant said, "yeah, I suppose...add a few hundred to it", so he did and the Revenue accepted it without question. Essentially,the Revenue are perfectly aware of what a small business like a garage can genuinely earn and will go after you if you or your accountant starts to take the piss out of it. With regard to the "Chinese" restaurants, it was explained to me that many of them are essentially shell companies, often owned by individuals based in Asia, who are essentially untraceable and trying to penetrate the ownership of such places is nigh on impossible and Revenue basically won't bother unless the evasion is blatant/covering the importation of illegals/a cover for drug importation. I was told that such restaurants tend to want to keep a low profile so they generally pay enough taxes to keep Revenue happy, which is why you see so few "Chinese" defaulters in the regular lists. It's also a similar characteristic to other businesses such as cleaners/beauty salons/dog groomers/landscapers and so on. The Revenue are perfectly aware but I suspect,that like building standards inspectors, there are not enough revenue inspectors available to nail all the dodgers.

What ATM machine has a minimum amount of 50 euro withdrawal? Rubbish.

Capt'n Midnight

Amazon will stop accepting UK Visa credit cards from January.

freshpopcorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118189362#Comment_118189362

In my experience it's often one's in supermarkets/shops.

cj maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118189408#Comment_118189408

I heard that. Plus my uk debit cards have changed from Visa to Mastercard. ?

yoke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188303#Comment_118188303

Maybe they think they are experts at it, but based on what I've seen, it's rubbish and probably a majority of self-employed people who I've dealt with or known have their own ways of dodging income tax.

For example how does revenue determine how many days a week a taxi driver has worked, if the taxi driver drives around with their meter off? How can they enforce a payment in court on a takeaway that claims it had lower income than it did, based on just some average amount they picked out of a hat, based on what other similar takeaways in the area reported (if any exist!)?

The "best estimate that someone in Revenue's position can do" has nothing to do with the actual cashflow of a business.

It's similar to how the government just believed some bank person's figure of "€8 billion needed for bailout", when the actual figure turned out to be something noone knew (something like €64 billion in the end). The point I'm making is that it's NOT easy for Revenue to accurately know how much someone has earned - they may think they know, but they don't have a clue in reality. This is not an "Irish" problem, it's a problem in every single country - it won't be solved just by switching everything to use credit cards, but at least it will make it slightly harder to under-declare income.

Tow

The very reason why Self Employed people did not get a 'PAYE' Tax Credit was because is was assuming they were pocketing some cash. But now in this PC world that view is seen as unacceptable! Revenue tend to got after targets they can easily get results from. Just last week in the news they 'settled' with a large company for far less than was owed. No doubt it was seen as not worth the effort, or there was political interference!

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118189487#Comment_118189487

You know very little about how revenue work.

Mantis Toboggan

Revenue simply don't have the Man power or resources to go after every taxi man, Chinese restaurant or anyone else dodging tax in the country. They just go after big targets or cases where there's lots of evidence.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188767#Comment_118188767

I don't think I've ever paid cash for a GP.

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118189741#Comment_118189741

I've only ever paid cash at my GP. He wouldn't know what to do with a card. He doesn't even have a computer - writes things down on envelopes, sticky pads etc. But he has a no nonsense attitude which i like. (In saying that, I rarely have to visit him).

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191004#Comment_118191004

Jaysus, I remember seeing a GP using a PC back in the late 80s.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188419#Comment_118188419

When Bono doesn't pay his tax they call it being "tax efficient".

But if a small businessman did the same thing as Bono they would end up on the wrong side of the law.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188719#Comment_118188719

lol just like the courts in Ireland are "impartial" who happen to be very soft on white collar criminals.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191237#Comment_118191237

First major software products for GPs here were on the market mid 80s, would have been well over 50% computerised by the mid 90s (and near 100% in the old NWHB area that really pushed and supported it) - but there are still a handful that have either no computerisation at all, or one at reception for writing letters and getting test results in on; but no patient management system.

If someone takes a negligence claim against a GP with no records, the GP is screwed.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191408#Comment_118191408

How would you be on the wrong side of the law by not paying tax that you don't owe?

I do that every day of the week.

Jeremy Sproket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188353#Comment_118188353

Who said it wasn't legal tender?

Who said they're not entitled to only accept cash?

I await your reply.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191408#Comment_118191408

Unlike a lot more prominent figures in Irish life Bono is tax resident in Ireland.

It's his accountants job to make sure he pays the correct amount of tax on his earnings in Ireland just like any other taxpayer.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191683#Comment_118191683

If you have an army of accountants and lawyers you can get away with stuff that a small businessman wouldn't get away with.

That's why revenue goes for easy targets that they know wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight.