My local boutique has been cash-only from the start since it launched in winter 2010; it’s run by a local businesswoman who has 2 outlets, one here in the Midlands, the other in bordering South West – if you consider Gloucestershire as that. Where I live people consider it as the Midlands.
It’s a mixture of high-end clothing and women’s athleisure wear.
On here, there’s a school of thought “if it’s cash-only, it’s money-laundering or suspicious”.
Some takeaways seem to be cash-only, but would any other store, like a boutique, being cash-only be seen as suspicious?
Is this because of the American candy stores in London which some people see as a front for money laundering?
Slightly off-topic, but do you see Gloucester/Gloucs as the Midlands or South West?
21 comments
A big chunk is just book cooking for tax purposes.
The whole “money laundering” is just a trope, laundering is difficult, you can just unilaterally do it.
I don’t find it suspicious as much as really inconvenient.
There’s an amazing chippy near me that’s cash only. The only reason I ever go there is because it’s so much better than anywhere else nearby. If there was a slightly inferior, but still decent, chippy nearby that took card I’d probably go there instead.
It’s literally the only time I ever need cash so it adds an extra step of having to withdraw cash if I go there.
I’m imagining “high end clothing” is around the £100+ an item mark? So way more cash than anyone would carry unless they get it specifically for that shop. That would seem weird to me, although I guess more annoying than suspicious.
There are charges for card connection machines, which can be too much for a small business if their margins are tight. Cash is straightforward.
I probably wouldn’t shop anywhere cash only if the purchases were worth more than £20. Sure if the corner shop is cash only but most transactions are under a fiver, that makes sense. But “high-end clothing” cash only feels very suspicious. Not necessarily money laundering, but tax evasion would be the concern.
Does the boutique give printed receipts when you make purchases? If not, then I’d definitely be inclined to assume they are evading taxes.
No, cash is the legally correct payment for anything in the UK.
Literally the point of cash.
Banks love it when you don’t use cash, because then they can use their fake version instead and it means they need less actual money to operate.
The American Candy stores in London aren’t cash only though.
Reddit is obsessed with calling them money laundering despite the Private Eye investigations demonstrating it was tax evasion – they close the company down before they get their tax bill basically. Technically tax evasion is a form of money laundering (because tax evasion is illegal therefore making the money unlawfully-obtained) but it isn’t what most people picture when we say money laundering.
As for other cash only businesses, some of them are evading tax. If you only take cash for haircuts, maybe you just “forget” to document 20% of the haircuts you give for example. Or taxi journeys or sandwiches you make. HMRC do sometimes surveillance on such businesses – park up outside and see how many people get a haircut then compare that with what the company books say. They don’t really have the resources to do this too often though.
That doesn’t mean all cash-only businesses are dodgy though. Some just don’t want the overhead of card payments, where a % is taken by the processor and the scheme. Also cash is instant settlement – you pay me cash, I’ve got my funds; you pay me by card, I might have to wait a week or more for the funds to land in my bank account as they can be batched up. “Cash is king” has been a phrase since long before card payments. Having cash means if I’ve just sold you my last 10 boxes of spuds I can go to the wholesale market and get some more so i can carry on trading. If you’ve paid me card or cheque I don’t have those funds.
Very suspicious if somewhere is cash only. They’re now going to lose more profit by driving extra potential customers away than the processing fees for card use. So either they’re making enough to be happy and don’t want to maximise their income or it’s dodgy and fiddling HMRC.
Gloucestershire is definitely 100% South West. I’m sat there now, we are not in the “Midlands”!
Why do people keep posting about American Candy Stores?
It might be that the owner was refused permission to have credit card facilities. Perhaps because of past bankruptcy or something, or no business history.
Had this convo the other day on the London sub, I personally couldn’t care less if the Cash only place I’m frequenting (barbers, take away, weed man) is or isn’t filing their taxes correctly. I’m there for a service, how they file their taxes is between them, their accountant and HMRC.
If you think Gloucester is the Midlands then you need to improve your geography. It’s roughly as far north as Luton if you look at the map which puts it just outside the M25 as far as most people are concerned.
American Candy stores?? That’s either a London thing or you’re imagining it. Nothing like that anywhere near me. By the way I’m definitely in the midlands (Notts).
I don’t know about *too* suspicious but they are behind the times, denying themselves custom and there is an assumption some of the money won’t get declared. But I don’t think an old couple running a cash only chippy are specifically a criminal enterprise.
A Chinese around from me has never had a card machine and the chippy next door has had a “card machine not working” sign up for at least since it opened
Money laundering is a nightmare.
Realistically you’re a criminal with a half smart accountant who’s willing to commit crimes also – says a lot for their career prospects.
You’ve got to find a loophole in the law which has been crafted by the finest legal and financial minds we have.
You’ve got HMRC, anti money laundering laws and protocols.
It’s not easy to shift dodgy cash anymore, certainly not through a cash business.
It’s most likely either a small business who don’t feel able to take the hit per card transaction on processing fees or they’re cheating on their taxes and not declaring all of their takings.
As someone else said, I don’t think I’d find it suspicious but you’re probably missing out on a lot of business. I rarely have cash on me these days and never enough to buy high-end clothing.
avoiding tax and been unsure when a shop will just need ot shut down.
who wants to set up card payments when you might run out of “back of the truck” stuff in 5 month?
The American Candy stores didn’t start the ‘cash only = dodgy” thing. It’s been going on for a long time. Hand car washes and nail bars are two obvious ones.
No there are loads of cash only shops – almost all of China town is cash only. It’s not suspicious but a bit annoying
Cash only is always going to be suspicious. It’s to obviously easy to fiddle the tax.