In article UV9ei.8117$gI4.3643@trndny06,
"longshot" wrote:

"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Tube Audio" wrote:

Hello



I hired a contractor to do some work, the work is complete and I got a
bill.
The amount is $800. On the invoice at the bottom they wrote in ink make
check payable to "john smith", the owner. Not the name of the company.



I guess they are doing this to avoid taxes.



The issue is, I would like to make the check out to the business's name
as
this work involved a permit and was done over a dispute with a neighbor
so I
want a record incase there are any further legal issues between me and my
neighbor. Should I just make the check out to the companies business or
to
the owner?

I'm going to disagree with other respondents, here. If it were me, I'd
make the check out to the company. The owner may be trying to avoid
taxes or he may be trying to simplify bookkeeping or he may even be
doing business under a fictitious name without having made it all nice
and legal. Whatever the reason, it sounds unprofessional at best. It is
my (apparently unpopular) opinion that no reputable business asks checks
to be made out to the owner.

many contractors, particularly in the north east, are no more than an
independent carpenter/ contractor with no other employees.

That's fine, but if they don't want to be paid under a company name,
they shouldn't have one. Legally, in fact, you can't do business under a
DBA without filing appropriate legal paperwork, which is pretty damn
simple. Then you take that paperwork to the bank and set up a checking
account in the name of the business. Nothing wrong with doing business
using your real name, but using a fictitious name to gather business and
then asking customers to pay you personally is b.s.