Received cheque today BUT...

wilser

Hi
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum,
About 5 months ago a builder I do some work for supplied a hot water cylinder to a job I was working on, the cylinder leaked from a manufacturers joint.
After 3 site visits from me and refitting a new cylinder , the builder asked me to send a quote in to his suppliers for my time as he said it shouldn't be up to him to pay me.
All fair enough so far, sent in a quote for €250 and waited and waited. Had almost given up when today a cheque arrived in the post for €307.50 .
I am not registered for vat so didn't include it in the quote, haven't sent an invoice as it looked for a long time that it was a lost cause.
Am loathe to send the cheque back as it took so long to get it in the first place, in fairness to the builder he told his supplier that he would close his account if I didn't get fixed up, and that they where getting away very cheap @ €250. His supplier was waiting from the cylinder crowd to fix them up.
So basically I wanted to know should I just bite the bullet and send it back or keep the head down.
Thanks for reading

TheChizler

Send back the VAT portion once the original cheque clears?

Avatar MIA

wilser wrote: »

Hi
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum,
About 5 months ago a builder I do some work for supplied a hot water cylinder to a job I was working on, the cylinder leaked from a manufacturers joint.
After 3 site visits from me and refitting a new cylinder , the builder asked me to send a quote in to his suppliers for my time as he said it shouldn't be up to him to pay me.
All fair enough so far, sent in a quote for €250 and waited and waited. Had almost given up when today a cheque arrived in the post for €307.50 .
I am not registered for vat so didn't include it in the quote, haven't sent an invoice as it looked for a long time that it was a lost cause.
Am loathe to send the cheque back as it took so long to get it in the first place, in fairness to the builder he told his supplier that he would close his account if I didn't get fixed up, and that they where getting away very cheap @ €250. His supplier was waiting from the cylinder crowd to fix them up.
So basically I wanted to know should I just bite the bullet and send it back or keep the head down.
Thanks for reading

I'd lodge it and ONCE cleared ask if they'd like their €57.50 back.

Avatar MIA

wilser wrote: »

Hi
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum,
About 5 months ago a builder I do some work for supplied a hot water cylinder to a job I was working on, the cylinder leaked from a manufacturers joint.
After 3 site visits from me and refitting a new cylinder , the builder asked me to send a quote in to his suppliers for my time as he said it shouldn't be up to him to pay me.
All fair enough so far, sent in a quote for €250 and waited and waited. Had almost given up when today a cheque arrived in the post for €307.50 .
I am not registered for vat so didn't include it in the quote, haven't sent an invoice as it looked for a long time that it was a lost cause.
Am loathe to send the cheque back as it took so long to get it in the first place, in fairness to the builder he told his supplier that he would close his account if I didn't get fixed up, and that they where getting away very cheap @ €250. His supplier was waiting from the cylinder crowd to fix them up.
So basically I wanted to know should I just bite the bullet and send it back or keep the head down.
Thanks for reading

I'd lodge it and ONCE cleared ask if they'd like their €57.50 back.

Minus the €50 processing fee

wilser

Thanks for the replies.

The builder said don't even consider giving them back any money, just issue an invoice for the full amount for your own records and leave it at that.
TBH wasnt sure if that was a good idea so said I'd ask here.

Gloomtastic!

wilser wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

The builder said don't even consider giving them back any money, just issue an invoice for the full amount for your own records and leave it at that.
TBH wasnt sure if that was a good idea so said I'd ask here.

It’s very remiss of them to issue a cheque without an invoice. Stinks of inefficiency.

Ordinarily, they will have allocated the amount plus VAT in their accounts so if you invoice them €307.50 with zero VAT it will not reconcile.

So if you want this matter closed and move on with your life then, as stated above, bank the cheque and return the €57.50 to them via a crossed cheque and an invoice for €250.00.

Life’s too bloody short to be messing about with this sort of nonsense!

Avatar MIA

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

It’s very remiss of them to issue a cheque without an invoice. Stinks of inefficiency.

Ordinarily, they will have allocated the amount plus VAT in their accounts so if you invoice them €307.50 with zero VAT it will not reconcile.

So if you want this matter closed and move on with your life then, as stated above, bank the cheque and return the €57.50 to them via a crossed cheque and an invoice for €250.00.

Life’s too bloody short to be messing about with this sort of nonsense!

He's been told to raise an invoice for €307.50 and clear it on his side. What the supplier does on their side is of no concern to the OP.

sarahnicl

I'm really surprised you got paid at all. The delay was because you don't send an invoice. The only reason accounts payable sent a chq without an invoice to set against it was thanks to the builder nagging on your behalf.
I agree with the other reply. Cash the chq. Invoice for the job ex VAT + processing fee. Return the balance with credit note for balance.
You should go to a one day bookkeeping course. The LEOs do them for 25quid a pop.

wilser

sarahnicl wrote: »

I'm really surprised you got paid at all. The delay was because you don't send an invoice. The only reason accounts payable sent a chq without an invoice to set against it was thanks to the builder nagging on your behalf.
I agree with the other reply. Cash the chq. Invoice for the job ex VAT + processing fee. Return the balance with credit note for balance.
You should go to a one day bookkeeping course. The LEOs do them for 25quid a pop.

I was surprised as well to get paid. When the sh1te hit the fan and there was a leak on site, everyone thought it was my fault. After spending a bit of time on site and finding out that the problem was with the manufacturer, the builder apologised and promised that they would make sure I got fixed up for my time.
Tbh it wasn't even a quote I sent in, it was just a list of work I done and time spent doing it on headed paper.

davindub

wilser wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

The builder said don't even consider giving them back any money, just issue an invoice for the full amount for your own records and leave it at that.
TBH wasnt sure if that was a good idea so said I'd ask here.

Im surprised they paid without an invoice, but they will be claiming vat inputs on the amount if that is what they have added to the 250. So they will become aware when doing their next vat return.

Just clear the cheque and refund the difference, explaining you are not registered for vat.

You never know you might get some future business from the interaction and it avoids potential hassle later if the mistake is ever discovered.

K.Flyer

Apart from anything, they applied the incorrect vat rate.
Vat on labour in the construction sector is 13.5%, they applied 23% for some reason.