The Barter Economy

Like a third world country, I heard on the radio that we're still relying on other countries to send us baby formula.  Someone said there is now a shortage of Idaho Potatoes?  Do we have a potato famine on the horizon?  Inflation is still at a 40 year high.  How will we combat this?  We were having this discussion.  I think it is wise that we have something on hand to barter with as the value of our dollar diminishes.

Which brings me to the brown paper bag you see sitting on the island in the kitchen.

I walked in and saw it and thought, "Now that is odd."  Tricia doesn't go to Burger King.  On the truly rare occasions that we get fast food, it'll be Popeye's Fried Chicken (spicy).  So I had to ask, "What's in the bag??"

Check it out!:

It's a half of a bag of fresh Chanterelle mushrooms.  Our beekeeping friend had found a big patch of them and picked them.  You're supposed to keep them in a paper bag.  He brought them by the house and wished to trade them for two dozen fresh eggs.  It was a good deal, so the trade was made.  In the past, we'd trade him two gallons of fresh, raw milk for two pints of his local honey.  If you can come to a deal where both parties are happy, which we are, you have a rare, win-win situation.

Tricia washed some of them up and sliced a big fat white onion.  I liked the direction this was going.

She added some butter to a black cast iron skillet and put the onions and chanterelles in the skillet.  They cooked down until the onions were translucent and then we were ready to eat.

I've been reading with much interest about the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents in the Inflation Reduction Act.  Hmmmm.  I happened to google if tax is owed on barter transactions.  Here's what I learned:

"Because "barter dollars," the fair market value of the goods and services you received, are taxed as if they are cash, you can owe income tax, self-employment tax, employment tax, or even excise tax on your bartering income – even if you don't actually receive a penny in cash."

You gotta be kidding me!  I'll be anticipating a knock at the door by one of the new 87,000 agents to collect from this transaction.  I'll see if they'll take mushrooms or eggs in payment instead of dollars.