As a constructive suggestion why not put all of your complaints, observations and suggestions in a letter to your local elected representatives and maybe the Department/Minister of Finance?
Yes, because the Minister and other TD's are completely unaware that they are wasting money, none of them watched Prime Time, or listened to anyone on the Doorstep, or ever read a newspaper. If someone would only just bring the whole situation to their attention the problem will be sorted out.
Gimme a Break. If anyone believes that ANY of the parties in Ireland will deliver good quality services and anything close to value for money then you're deluding yourself, and you'll still be deluding yourself and bleeting on about campaigning and using your vote on your death bed which will be a trolley or a piece of garden furniture unless you've paid for health insurance on top of your tax, prsi, AND Health Levy.
Tax evastion isn't the answer, of course it makes matters worse for all of us if a few help themselves through evasion. But our supposed leaders have been giving us a master class in helping themselves and damning the rest so I can't say I'm surprised to find people willing to frequent the Black/Grey Market. There's a reason why we call them leaders.
Please can we end the patronising advice to people to campaign, vote, write to your TD. It doesn't work, has never worked, will never work. This is Ireland, we get the government we deserve. We'd rather sit in a pub or shop in Brown Thomas than get out and Protest or cause a bit of civil disobedience. There are other countries in the world where a fraction of what goes on here would have led to a General Strike.
Here we re-elect them.
My opinion on the original Post. I would never suggest to someone that they could do me a better deal if I pay with Notes, wink wink. I'm VAT registered myself and I would hate to have someone suggest it to me. However if I am shopping around for something I will take the best price/service/quality mix I can get. Is it possible that some businesses I deal with have tax issues? I don't know, and I don't propose to waste my time finding out, I have enough things to comply with to keep my own business straight without worrying about others.
The only thing I can say is this, if you deal with a business and save money by
knowingly paying in a way that helps them evade tax you are on very shaky ground when it comes to consumer rights if something goes wrong. That's one of the prices you pay for not paying tax, you forfeit the protection of the state.
If you are willing to pay the penalty of getting caught, forfeiting rights, and living for possibly years with tax evasion on your conscience then do it. My conscience only stretches to bringing a couple of extra pairs of Levi's and some electrical goods through Customs at Dublin Airport.
Though others will disagree with me I happen to believe that the best form of protest to a law you disagree with is to break it, but you must be willing to pay the penalty that society attaches to that crime. E.g. I have more respect for Bin protesters who went to Jail than for protesters who paid up but wrote letters.
Most statues are to people who crossed the line of the law in order to move it. To my knowledge there are no statues to a committee.
BTW Rainyday stop stealing my Government small enough to fit in your bedroom joke.
You know it applies to US Republicans.
Bedrooms in new Irish houses are so small that it doesn't apply over here.
-Rd