Eclogite » June 26th, 2015, 9:14 am wrote:So you are complicit in helping him avoid paying his taxes and thus aiding him in stealing from his fellow citizens. And zetreque thinks the idea is cool. Questionable ethics from both of you, but if it aligns with your political and economic beliefs I'll content myself with a raised eyebrow.
Just to chime in, this ...
Once bought a piece from an artist who, when I wrote the check, had me make it out to the gas company.
Is technically "barter", and AFAIK is
not illegal under US law. I wouldn't advise doing it to excess and rubbing it in people's faces, but it is legal, and it is a fact of life for many households on tight budgets and/or and for illegal immigrants without credit history or bank accounts. Granted that one side of the above exchange involved funds sent to a third party not involved in the barter, so that stretches the definition slightly, but not (AFAIK) past the breaking point. I could be wrong, but I dont think so.
In other words, federal law does NOT require citizens to use federal money as the basis of exchange of goods and services ... such things can be exchanged directly, without the need to acquire {and pay tax on} an intermediate exchange medium {i.e., cash}. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and speculate it would be legally impossible for the government to outlaw barter ... the SCOTUS would strike it down faster than a 13 yr old playing wack-a-mole. Discourage yes, outlaw no.
BY some estimates, barter actually makes up 10-15% of our economy, and the percentage is far higher for less developed countries, and approaches nearly 100% in some countries.