I sometimes saw my dad doing this in Britain, where it is certainly tax evasion. He'd ask the price of a service, then ask if there was a discount for "cash in

I sometimes saw my dad doing this in Britain, where it is certainly tax evasion. He'd ask the price of a service, then ask if there was a discount for "cash in hand". Occasionally, I think tradesmen would offer both prices upfront, or say "will you be needing a receipt?". It would have been a 15% discount for my dad (VAT was 17.5%), and probably a slightly larger saving for the tradesman, although they have a higher penalty if somehow caught. I think it was usually done for small jobs, like minor plumbing fixes. I have no idea how common this was in the 1990s, or how common it is now.