Sharing with the Tax Man

This time of year is especially busy for me because I work part time preparing taxes or should I say bartering my expertise in exchange for a Visa gift card. After all currency is only worth what we agree it’s worth. So taxes have got me thinking about how the new sharing economy could affect our infrastructure and the services that are paid for with our tax dollars. Now nobody WANTS to pay taxes but we all want to benefit from what our taxes pay for, such as roads, parks, libraries, police and fire protection, etc.

Legally speaking all income received is subject to federal income tax and most states have some sort of sales tax. Here in Florida we have no state income tax, most of the revenue needed is generated from property and sales taxes and tourism. So what happens when tourists come to Florida and instead of staying at a hotel they decide to try Airbnb or Couchsurfing? Is the owner of that spare room going to pay the 5% bed tax to the county and federal income tax on the money received? On a small scale it will probably not make much of a difference but as sharing becomes more and more popular it could have a huge impact.

My year end bonus last year was a barter gift card. The doctor I work for does a lot of barter business through a barter agency and we always have a surplus of “dollars.” Cash flow was down a bit last year and so we got barter gift cards instead of a cash bonus. I finally had a need this past month to use one of the other members of the barter community. I needed graduation announcements for my son and there was a printer in the network who I contacted to help me. When it came time to settle up the bill I gave her the gift card but I also had to pay the sales tax (7%) in cash. I understood why it was necessary, and realized that the printer could not pay the state of Florida in printing services, (or could they?) it had to be remitted in cash. Then a few days ago I “helped” my friend do her taxes in exchange for dinner. This got me to thinking about all the other barter and sharing transactions that happen without the state getting their cut and the financial shortfalls in the federal, state and local budgets. After all if I had done her taxes at my job she would have had to pay in cash and the income I received would have been taxed. In our transaction very little tax revenue was generated.

Shareable.net has an excellent soup illustration about how things change when we start sharing. Maybe as we move to this new economy we need to start thinking about the tax consequences. What kind of options could there be? Why couldn’t some people elect to pay their tax obligation in service to the respective tax collector? Do we really NEED a tax system to get things done? Look at the Detroit Robo-cop initiative. Maybe we should pay tax in proportion to the size our personal carbon footprint? These are just tiny examples. We have to start asking the big “What ifs?” So I’m asking...

Let's share!

Way back in kindergarten we started learning about sharing. I think it was one of the things we were graded on. This week has been all about sharing and how social media is making it not only easy but popular.

I've become addicted to facebook and have been posting pics of my knitting projects. I was delighted to see a message from a former co-worker asking if she could commission me to knit her a hat to wear under her bike helmet. While Florida winters are mild compared to the rest of the country it can still get a little chilly. So I whipped one up and brought it to her at work. We used that time to catch up on all the goings on. We hadn't seen each other in awhile so it was nice to reconnect. It's not just about the digital connections.

Wednesday was the day for my first attempt at a clothing swap. My boss was kind enough to let me use my office as the site for the swap. While it was not a huge success in terms of participants, those who did come had a fabulous time and everyone got some great new outfits. It was amazing how well some of the items from different donors came together for a fresh new look. We had some refreshments, I picked up cupcakes from Peace, Love and Cake with a coupon I got from Livingsocial and my friend Patty brought some of her wonderful pepperoni bread and a bottle of wine from her restaurant, Sage's. We were going to donate the clothes at the end of the night but decided to hold on to them as seed for the next swap which will be sometime in May.

I bartered some old wine corks for a pair of earrings after seeing an Alchemy request on Etsy.

Thursday was market day in downtown Largo. I love that I can walk there from my office and pick up lunch and other goodies, all while supporting my local community.

Today, my friend Sue and I are going to Pikasso’s Kiln and Kork to use another Livingsocial deal to paint some pottery and possibly have a glass of wine.

I'm working on another Etsy Alchemy request and have been exploring new possibilities with Twitter. It's amazing how one link leads to another and then another, I guess that's why they call them links.

TYOLS

Exciting things are happening in the online world. Sharing is the new wave and I intend on experimenting with this new paradigm. I actually envisioned this several years ago while thinking about trying to make enough money to pay the monthly bills. If only the house were paid for there would be no need to slave away 40 hours a week for someone else. Of course, things took a 180 ° turn and now I just don't worry. Back to today...as part of my plan borrowed from Neal Gorenflo for The Year of Living Shareably, I am going to also comment on my adventures in that arena. My first idea was to take the bus to see The King's Speech, however, the bus doesn't run that late on Sunday so I will save that one for later this week when I attempt to get to work by sharing mass transportation. Fortunately I don't really have too many timetables at work so if I miss the first one there will be another in 15 minutes. Now I did handknit a headband for my friend Loren who was also going to the movie so she paid me for it and that got me a ticket. Not really counting that since it was just coincidence that it was done in time for the show.

I did, however, barter some Tastefully Simple products and lunch for a massage last Friday....

and by the way the movie was great...two thumbs up!