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doris
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 12:01pm | IP Logged
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We've just had our house rewired  . Towards the end of the job, the electrician asked if he could be paid partly in cash. I initially agreed, but then I spoke to dh about it. He wasn't happy, since he felt that we would be helping the electrician to avoid tax. Given that he works in the public sector, he takes that fairly personally!
Anyway, I asked the electrician why he wanted to be paid in cash and he waffled a bit about having to pay lots of people, blah blah blah. Anyway in the end we did pay a little bit in cash -- to show willing as he'd done an excellent job -- but THEN he asked me to write a cheque for part of the amount without filling out the payee.
I just did it, without thinking, but then dh was pretty horrified and said that our cheque could now be used to pay for any kind of dodgy item -- which is of course true.
WWYD? Are we being too puritanical about this? Is paying in cash just how it goes? (Incidentally, the job cost £5,500  so there would also have been security issues about carrying that amount of cash around.)
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chicken lady
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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My first thought was, perhaps he does'nt have a bank account and he is embarrassed to say. Maybe he has no way to cash a check. I don't know that is just my thought. I try to think of a good reason for odd behaviour.
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missionfamily
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth--I do not think you are being unreasonable in your concern at all. Neither of those requests sound like straghtforward business practices and since he waited until the end of the job to ask for these arrangements it seems a though he knew you would easily be swayed because the job was completed and done well. Nevertheless, you should be abl to keep tabs on the check you gave himthrough your bank, and take away from this a lesson for the future. I always have my husband write out the check for these types of services to the company ame and the agreed upon fee beforehand. Then when I go to pay for the work, I just and them the check. If they have a questin or want to change the arrangement, I just claim I know nothing about it and they'll have to call my husband. No one has ever called him! Colleen
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Celeste
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 1:19pm | IP Logged
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doris wrote:
| Are we being too puritanical about this? |
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NO, you are not. If you feel the tiniest bit uncomfortable with it, don't feel bad about saying no, politely but firmly. Probably there won't be a problem, but you don't want to inadvertently get involved in shady financial dealings!
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 2:32pm | IP Logged
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I'll be the voice of dissent here  . I don't think that just the fact that he asked to be paid in cash is suspicious, but I think the bigger issue is whether it's our responsibility to make sure that those we hire have ethical business practices. Giving a check with no payee wouldn't really bother me either (it's the same as writing it to "Cash")~I don't really see any possiblity of getting connected with anything shady.
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asplendidtime
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 2:59pm | IP Logged
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Oh right away I thought maybe he has financial problems and couldn't put it in his account, so he'd need to put it into another person's account because he needs the money instead of it going to an automatic payment/bill.
Unfortunately, when we were very young and first married, we had bills to come out, but it was either pay the mortgage late or eat, so we found another way to cash our cheque. And we had to pay our mortgage late, along with late fees, .
I doubt that he'd try to get part of it in cash and not want to pay taxes... Then it would look like he made too little on jobs, as he'd still have to claim the larger portion for which there is a paper trail.
Regardless, I think that in charity if he cheats the government that is his problem, you can't assume that or change that. But if he is someone who needs to eat.... 
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Martha
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 3:50pm | IP Logged
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The simple truth is this:
You do not know him, his company, or why he wanted this done this way. In christian charity, assume the best. In human reality, plan for the worst and don't repeat this situation.
I find it questionable because he waited until the job was done. If he needed a certain method of payment, he should have said so at the onset. Otherwise, it does appear to have rather questionable motives.
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Maturemomg
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| Posted: April 18 2007 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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What a person does with the money you pay him is his business. To me, your method of payment should be what you want. Cash is fine. You are under no obligation to assist people in conforming with the law. And as some have pointed out, there may be valid reasons for preferring cash.
Lose no sleep over this....
Yours in Christ,
Kathy
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Karen T
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| Posted: May 06 2007 at 8:23am | IP Logged
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We have had a number of small contracting jobs and one larger one done over the past 8 years in this house, and in each case, the contracts, etc. were all done with a company name, i.e. "A-1 contractors, Inc" and then when the job was done, the guy asked for the checks to be made out to him as an individual. I have done this, but always wondered if they were avoiding income taxes on it b/c most of these were small jobs ($2000-3000). When we had a bedroom and bathroom added to our basement, though, it was a much larger check. I wrote it from our checking account but had to transfer money to cover it, so as soon as he left I went to the bank, and there was my contractor cashing it and paying his helpers in cash - all Mexicans who spoke little English.
I realize it's not my place to dictate others' business practices, but I suspect the workers are 'undocumented' and so are not paying taxes either. It is illegal in my state to employ illegal aliens. (I have nothing against the workers themselves and realize they are here out of desparation in most cases)
My feelings may be somewhat colored also by the fact that since the work was finished we've discovered all sorts of things the contractor did to cut corners on costs (and we had gotten 4-5 bids and chosen one that was in the middle, as well as references). 
Karen T
p.s. I personally would not pay anyone in cash b/c you may need proof of payment for tax purposes if you sell the house, etc. but making the check out to the individual should be fine. If they want to be paid, they should accept that - you are not obligaged to pay in cash.
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Topic: A moral dilemma re paying in cash...
