No Return to Normal - it's Payback Time | 51 comments (51 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

agree with you on the little business idea (4.00 / 2)

I see it happening here, too. Seems everyone is trying to figure out something they can sell at the farmers market.

by jjellin on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 10:37:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 1)

And it's a good thing. That same sister already has a barter agreement with her hairdresser to keep her books in exchange for services.

I went in the other direction. I rent, have no subscriptions, no phone (but obviously an internet connection), no car bill, loans, etc. I work 30 hours per week for abysmally low pay, but I survive with enough free time to pursue a serious blogging career. :)

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire

by papicek (papi_cek_at_hotmail_dot_com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 11:14:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 1)

Are you seing a governmental backlash, as barter undermines the tax-base?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 11:19:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (4.00 / 2)

Straight barter undermines tax takes.

The WIR/Bartercard style complementary currencies consist of barter plus bilateral "Peer to Peer" credit, and what they are is actually an accounting system, plus a fiat currency "look alike" pricing reference.

ie as a WIR member you don't exchange goods and services FOR Swiss Francs, you exchange them BY REFERENCE TO Swiss Francs while creating and discharging credit obligations.

And you must account to the tax man from both sets of books.....

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 11:33:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 0)

My brother has a front end alignment and chassis business in Tucson. He does quite a lot of his business through BX, a business exchange. He will align and balance the tires for a used car dealer or a resturanter and accept payment in BX credits that he uses to pay for anything other BX participating companies offer. This includes meals in resturants, used cars, hotel rooms, etc., etc. BX participants do pay sales tax on their transactions, but at about one half of the nominal value of said goods or services. How they worked that out I do not know, but he has been doing this for years.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 04:15:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 1)

I wonder about this too--the tax obligations of bartering. It does seem like a sensible direction to go in, but if the govt. is going to be there demanding cash, that will undermine the whole effort. Unless, the government will be willing to take services in kind . . .

That is no so far-fectched. There was a time when local towns (New England) would require, say, a certain amount of road maintenance work from male residents as a tax. Of course, eventually, those with more cash than back muscles could pay their way out of it. Which works, too.

by jjellin on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 12:00:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 0)

It's the thing that usually causes the collapse of local barter based economy systems. A fraction of the People get involved because they can avoid tax, and sooner or later thegovernment turns up with a tax bill. The other problem is that people tend to be too choosy about what they want to do. local economies can only support so many potters and artists.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 12:07:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: agree with you on the little business idea (none / 0)

ceebs:

The other problem is that people tend to be too choosy about what they want to do. local economies can only support so many potters and artists.

Which is why we need Units of "Money's Worth" which people are prepared to accept...

I reckon that land rental value is one of them, and energy value another.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2009 at 01:19:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No Return to Normal - it's Payback Time | 51 comments (51 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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