Cash v credit cards or tax avoidance?

TobyLeeds
TobyLeeds Forum Participant Posts: 146
edited October 8 in Caravan & Motorhome Chat #1

Coming across France earlier this month I came across two tax avoidance strategies

The first was a sign saying cards only accepted above € xx which was just above the 1 night stay price.

The second time, on being offered the card, the warden said that it was winter and they didn’t have the machine!

Of course no payment receipt was offered!

i wondered what other excuses club members had encountered not to accept a payment card.

Comments

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Forum Participant Posts: 3,579
    1000 Comments Photogenic
    edited October 9 #2

    Never had a problem but we have always booked in advance as the clubs rates have normally been lower than the advertised costs for the site. If they will not issue a receipt, I suspect they are fiddling the books. 

  • Graydjames
    Graydjames Forum Participant Posts: 440 ✭✭✭
    edited October 9 #3

    If you mean they are not going to declare the income, for income taxes or TVA, that would actually be tax evasion. There's a big difference.

    The excuse about not having the machine because it is winter does sound rather pathetic and somewhat questionable, but the first "excuse" is pretty widespread. A lot of small businesses and traders will refuse cards on small amounts because of the transaction costs. Often this is low - around £5 to £10, but a local garden centre to me sets a limit of £15, and I have heard of cases where it is much higher - a hairdresser for example setting a limit of £35. So it is not necessarily to evade taxes. 

    It used to be possible to make a charge to cover the transaction costs, but this was outlawed some years ago.  

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭
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    edited October 9 #4

    None of this alarms me. Here at home I have regular payments in cash of just over the £400 a month - to staff, suppliers and tradesmen - plus something for charity collectors and homeless men with thin dogs too.  All in cash.

  • Wherenext
    Wherenext Club Member Posts: 10,585 ✭✭✭
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    edited October 9 #5

    Not my business how other people conduct their tax affairs, regardless of who they are or what country they're in.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,856 ✭✭✭
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    edited October 9 #6

    We have a Chinese takeaway not far from us which we have been using for donkeys years. They have steadfastly refused to take anything but cash, even during Covid. They used to take cheques but that stopped years ago. There is a cash machine just across from them so I suspect an unsuspecting customer could always withdraw some cash. I have no idea of their accounting procedures but it does slightly worry me that they probable have thousands of pounds of business each week which could be open to abuse. Personally I think it should become law that any transaction over £10 should have the opportunity to be paid by card. If Age Concern are happy for you to put £4 worth of secondhand books on a card there is not really any excuse.

    David

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