Cash-in-hand

There's been much coverage in the press regarding 'cash-in-hand' payments to tradespeople, ever since David Gauke criticised the practise the other day. If the whole idea of cash-in-hand is to avoid paying tax, it's wring (though I'd like to met the person who hand on heart could say they have never paid cash to a plumber, joiner, mechanic etc to get some sort of discount).

Without tax revenues there would be no schools, roads, water (in Scotland it's still a public utility), hospitals, doctors, bin collections, etc, etc. I know I'm not paying income tax at the moment for several years I was a net contributor to the tax pot. I didn't mind as it payed for others. That's the point. It's a benefit to all in society and make that society as a whole better in terms of welfare of the most vulnerable.

Yet Gauke's criticism came on the back of reports last week that there is approximately £13tn of tax hidden from the taxman by large corporations and extremely wealthy individuals. So, a plumber taking cash in hand is morally wrong, but I can't recall Gauke making any moral judgements or public comments about this. Perhaps it's easier to target the small individual businessperson who may be struggling to get by in the current economic climate than to target the companies and individuals who are avoiding tax big style.

Besides, just because a person takes cash-in-hand (and maybe even offers a discount for doing so) doesn't automatically mean they are avoiding tax. As a mechanic friend of mine once told me, it's madness as all the parts he has to buy and the wages he has to pay are all traceable. If he didn't pay the tax he owed he'd get caught. So the method of payment does not affect how his business is taxed. I'd guess there are more tradespeople like that than the type Gauke is referring to. I also know this mechanic quite likes the idea of there being hospitals and doctors on the NHS, just in case.

As a Christian I will pay my dues to Caesar. Sometimes it may hurt, sometimes it looks like the money isn't being spent very wisely, but to not pay tax will just make things worse - like Greece where tax avoidance is almost a national sport, with only around a third of tax due actually paid and look where they are now. And it's the people with the least who suffer the most in these situations - the very people Jesus instructed us to look after.