Vendor pushing for cash payments?

My seamstress also wanted me to pay cash to "avoid" taxes. She reminded me to bring cash every time I went in for a fitting. I didn't want to do it, so I showed up with my credit card and said I wasn't able to get cash. She even insisted that I walk to a bank nearby to withdraw money, lol.

I know that some vendors do not take credit card because of the extra fees that are involved which is understandable, but I have never heard of a vendor only taking cash to avoid taxes?!? That is crazy. I would question if I want to work with a business that operates that way.

I know some of the small vendors here mightn't have a card machine ( e.g a seamstress working from home), because it costs too much for them in fees, so people like that I'd automatically give cash too. But shops should be able to do both, I find it strange that she actually told you it was to "avoid" taxes! Why would someone advertise that they do that by telling their customers? As other have said it is illegal, perhaps she did just mean to avoid the CC fee like others have said.. Very strange!

I would refuse to use a vendor that wants you to pay cash to avoid taxes. That is super shady and illegal. I wouldn't be comfortable working with someone that is that open with their willingness to break the law. Especially if you don't have the protection that comes with a credit card payment.

As far as I know, it's illegal in every state, for every bank, to charge extra to take cards. And as Natalie just said, telling you they want to avoid paying taxes is pretty weird too.

I"d go elsewhere. It's NOT that I'm a fan of taxes (trust me, no) but I'm a fan of doing the right thing.

There's no mystery here. If you have a vendor urging you to pay cash "to avoid paying taxes", you're dealing with someone trying to get away with something the average American employee cannot get away with (the average employee is obligated to pay tax on their income -- like it or not). There are plenty of legal deductions a business owner can take, but hiding the entire transaction is not one of them. If you have any doubt, just call the IRS. They'll make it very clear to you.

I'm not talking about cash discounts -- I'm talking about vendors who make it very clear that they do not want to pay taxes on the income they collect from a client. These vendors are cheaters, and they are willing to break the law to undercut their law-abiding competition. If you want to give her a wake-up call, tell her you're an agent for US Treasury, lol.

Sounds to me like she is trying to not have to pay sales tax on your order by taking cash under the table. In your shoes I would be nervous because paying cash I would be worried about what if she didn't do what she promised. Paying with a CC you sometimes have more recourse if something goes wrong. I would likely tell her I was putting everything for the wedding on a CC for honeymoon miles.

It's only illegal in 10 states to charge credit card fees. New York being one of those state. But in Georgia it legal and pretty much normal business practice. All of my utilities companies water, electric, and gas charge credit card fees. Signature and pin debit credit card fees are illegal in every state.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I insisted on paying with a card, and I will do so for the balance as well. I am not making any cash payments to any vendors because it is important to me to have a paper trail in case anything goes wrong. I was just curious if this sounded shady or unusual to anyone else as well. I think the shop probably does this to underreport their earnings...I've encountered this at a hair salon before as well. Thanks again for confirming my thoughts on this.

What she is saying is that if you pay in cash, she does not have to pay the tax on it, and she will pass that savings along to you. If you pay by check or card she will have to charge you tax on the money. Not legal but a common practice.

Almost all our vendors wanted cash or check. CC fees are outrageous in some cases for small business because they don't have the volume other big box stores have .