Barter Networks - Greeks Pioneer The Future

[dryrot]

Hi

TFH-ers going mainstream in the New York Times:

"Battered by Economic Crisis, Greeks Turn to Barter Networks"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/world/europe/in-greece-barter-networks-surge.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

"OLOS, Greece — The first time he bought eggs, milk and jam at an outdoor market using not euros but an informal barter currency, Theodoros Mavridis, an unemployed electrician, was thrilled.

“I felt liberated, I felt free for the first time,” Mr. Mavridis said in a recent interview at a cafe in this port city in central Greece. “I instinctively reached into my pocket, but there was no need to.”

Mr. Mavridis is a co-founder of a growing network here in Volos that uses a so-called Local Alternative Unit, or TEM in Greek, to exchange goods and services — language classes, baby-sitting, computer support, home-cooked meals — and to receive discounts at some local businesses.

{..]

After years of rampant consumerism and easy credit, such nascent initiatives speak to the new mood in Greece, where imposed austerity has caused people to come together — not only to protest en masse, but also to help one another.

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But what will I sell?

[AteMoose]

Hi

TFH-ers going mainstream in the New York Times:

"Battered by Economic Crisis, Greeks Turn to Barter Networks"

http://www.nytimes.c...&pagewanted=all

"OLOS, Greece — The first time he bought eggs, milk and jam at an outdoor market using not euros but an informal barter currency, Theodoros Mavridis, an unemployed electrician, was thrilled.

"I felt liberated, I felt free for the first time," Mr. Mavridis said in a recent interview at a cafe in this port city in central Greece. "I instinctively reached into my pocket, but there was no need to."

Mr. Mavridis is a co-founder of a growing network here in Volos that uses a so-called Local Alternative Unit, or TEM in Greek, to exchange goods and services — language classes, baby-sitting, computer support, home-cooked meals — and to receive discounts at some local businesses.

{..]

After years of rampant consumerism and easy credit, such nascent initiatives speak to the new mood in Greece, where imposed austerity has caused people to come together — not only to protest en masse, but also to help one another.

---------

But what will I sell?

I assume you bypass VAT, hence the discount. These greeks really dont like paying tax...

Edited October 4, 2011 by AteMoose

[DustyDog]

HMRC have quite a simple statement....

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/special-situations/samples.htm#4

So that's kind of like saying that all business transactions must include a fiscal transfer?

[Austin Allegro]

HMRC have quite a simple statement....

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/special-situations/samples.htm#4

Say you barter a television (or whatever) with, say, an electrician to fix your wiring for an hour. What's to stop you saying your sale price for the television is one penny, and the electrician's hourly rate is also one penny. So you only pay 1/20 of a penny each in VAT. Or have they got this covered as well? Do you have to charge 'fair market value' or something; if so how is this defined? Do self employed people have to charge minimum wage?

Edited October 4, 2011 by Austin Allegro

[R K]

HMRC have quite a simple statement....

http://www.hmrc.gov....s/samples.htm#4

One imagines the Greeks in Volos might not be inclined to mention it to their revenue.

If the rich don't pay any taxes on their legitimate transaction, why on earth should anyone else?

Edited October 4, 2011 by Red Knight

[pyracantha]

Say you barter a television (or whatever) with, say, an electrician to fix your wiring for an hour. What's to stop you saying your sale price for the television is one penny, and the electrician's hourly rate is also one penny. So you only pay 1/20 of a penny each in VAT. Or have they got this covered as well? Do you have to charge 'fair market value' or something; if so how is this defined? Do self employed people have to charge minimum wage?

If you barter, how are HMRC ever going to know unless you tell them?