In reply to Dax H:
> Sounds to me that he quoted it as a cash job and doesn't want to put it through his new books and be liable for the vat.
> Let's say he quoted you £1k all in but if he runs it through his accounts software it would come out at £1,200. You won't want to pay the extra £200 because it wasn't in the quote so he would have to make it £833.34 plus vat and lose the £166.66 to the vat man
So basically you were both conspiring to commit tax fraud?
It always astounds me the number of people who complain about corporations such as Amazon not paying enough tax but who will cheerfully ask a tradesman for a price without the VAT.
Perhaps the OP wasn't planning to do this but it looks as if the tradesman was.