IRD continues ‘cashie’ crackdown

Nearly four in five Auckland tradies don’t think it’s OK to do jobs under the table – even in their own time

Inland Revenue surveyed 500 tradespeople in Auckland and Queenstown to determine the effectiveness of its recent campaign against ‘cashies’ in the building trades.

Almost 80% of respondents disagreed with the statement that “it’s ok for tradespeople to do jobs under the table if they do it in their own time”.

Asked about the statement “under-the-table jobs are commonplace in the building and construction industry”, 37% of respondents said they disagreed, 25% agreed and the remainder were either neutral or didn’t know.

When asked what percentage of building and construction work in their city they believe is done under the table, 2% of Auckland respondents said none compared to 4% of Queenstown respondents. Of those who responded that a percentage of building work in their city was done under the table, 50% cited homeowners as the main encouragers of cash jobs, while only 15% cited tradespeople themselves.

Tax dodgers hurting industry 

Grant Florence , the NZ Certified Builders Association chief executive, condemned the practice, but said he hadn’t seen an uplift in the number of builders doing jobs under the table.

“The IRD obviously has its own measures of it, but I haven’t seen too many signs of an increase,” said Mr Florence. “There has always been an element of it in the industry, though, whether that’s someone building a fence or a deck for a neighbor. I think it’s part of the fabric of the industry, but it’s not right and we don’t condone it.

“The industry has to pay its way. Those who aren’t paying tax are working against those who are. We’re proactive in telling them that paying tax is just part of good business practice.”

Changing attitudes

The results also indicate that industry attitudes may be changing, with 79% of Auckland tradespeople surveyed disagreeing with the statement “It’s ok for tradespeople to do jobs under the table if they do it in their own time”, compared to 62% of respondents disagreeing in a 2012 survey.

Perhaps the biggest indicator that the industry perception of cash jobs is changing is that 43% of Auckland tradespeople said they would tell the IRD if they knew someone was cheating on their taxes – up from 30% in 2012.