IS BARTER LEGAL?

[invisiblepiper]

Yes - very good sense, and my limited bartering is very safe.
I belive a local LETS scheme failed to take off because of such problems though, which is sad.

[mrsflibble]

so if bartering is taxable, do you have to give HMRC some jam? or a bag of lavendar flowers?! ok on a much bigger scale than one jar or one bag...

[invisiblepiper]

I dunno - perhaps it would be like a medieval tithe - one tenth to the overlord................ doesn't bear thinking, does it?

[ina]

Two teaspoons of jam then?

[MKG]

What a minefield!! Made more complicated by the fact that if you offer jam and take a five-pound note in exchange, that's not a commercial transaction but a barter because the note is not money but a promise to pay. (Try getting that one to stand up at a tax tribunal!!!!! Ho Ho.).

I think the main difference, as far as Mr. Revenue is concerned, is intent. If you are making lots of jam with the intent of selling it or swapping it off, it's a business. If you're just trading away your unplanned excess, that's OK by the spirit if not the letter of the law.

[ina]

If you're just trading away your unplanned excess, that's OK by the spirit if not the letter of the law.

I'm always for the spirit!

[mrsflibble]

I'm intending to use my spirit in a barter this weekend. IF MAdam Cholet has made some jams this year lol!!!

[invisiblepiper]

Hmm - wonder if you could put jam in a still? Hypothetically of course!
Also a pity you guys didn't live nearer - could do a barter market or jam tasting session. I could , of course, fling one oot the windae of my car next time I cross the Kincardine Bridge............ any use ina?

[Annpan]

Ina actually lives no where near the Kincardine bridge, I only found this out when she said she would come to help us out and I checked out her postcode... I thought she was an hours drive away, it was over 3

I am quite near you invisible piper - well closer than either of us are to Ina I am just outside Lesmahagow.

Oh a big barter party sounds fun

[MKG]

Lesmahagow??????

There just HAS to be a joke there somewhere

[invisiblepiper]

... oh no there isn't............ just as well its not Auchenshuggle!
And yes, a BIG BARTER BASH has a ring to it............I wonder?

[witch way]

So it comes down to scale then? As tax inspectors now have to justify their hours spent on investigations, its presumably not worth their while working out the cost of ingredients and work hours in a jar of jam etc., but if the value of goods or services exchanged is on a larger scale or over a longer period, it might be worth it to try to impose some tax? Also surely they only tax you on profit? If there is no profit, what's to tax? ww.

[Graye]

Exactly. You have to intend to make a profit in the first place. Income tax won't come into it if there is no profit or intention to make a profit but VAT well might. Of course if you keep coming up with losses which you can then set off against other profits they might start raising eyebrows...

[Milims]

... oh no there isn't............ just as well its not Auchenshuggle!
And yes, a BIG BARTER BASH has a ring to it............I wonder?

This sounds like a very good idea. Could we south of the border folk come too?

[Thomzo]

Unfortunatley you don't have to intend to make a profit for the tax man to come after you. If you do make a profit then you are liable for tax. You might only be planning to sell some surplus but the minute you do so you run the risk of falling fowl of the HMRC. If they do investigate then it will be up to you to prove that you aren't making a profit so it's well worth keeping receipts for sugar, if you sell jam, seeds and compost, chicken food or whatever.

Bartering, if done commercially, will attract tax as you are simply replacing money with other goods.

Zoe