Bartering and you

In today’s economy, people don’t always have the money they need to buy what needs to be bought. So people are bartering, and it’s possible that more and more people will consider bartering as a way to get what they might not be able to purchase.

Bartering can be effective, especially as budgets tighten. But it can be hard to run a business when you barter because you’ve got books to balance and taxes to pay. (That’s right, Uncle Sam wants its share of your bartered “income”).

So how do you keep track of what you give out and what you get so you can pay your taxes on it and effectively run your business?

Fair market value is the answer. It’s the financial worth that you would willingly pay if you were to buy it in the market. When reporting income or cost of goods sold (or whatever you’ve given or received in barter), you would report the fair market value. This applies to your taxes and to your IAC-EZ account.

In fact, we make it “EZ” for you to identify what you’ve given or received through barter. Simply tag your product with the word “barter” and when you look at a report, you can easily filter by items or services delivered or accepted by methods other than cash.

The web makes it really easy to discover fair market value of something. Sites like UsedPrice.com, Ebay, and Shopping.com are three sites to check out to find what things cost.

And if you are interested in barter, the web is also making that easy, too. I don’t want to endorse specific sites (and there are plenty out there), but a Google search for “barter” or “barter exchange” should help you. And if you want to start local, visit the one and only Craigslist.

Jessica Routier

Jessica wants to talk to you! She is who coordinates the contests, travels to all the conferences, and interfaces on a fun level with customers on a daily basis in order to bring our users together as a community.

Jessica has a B.Admin and an MBA. Her background in business, along with a diverse skill-set (including a diploma in Medical Transportation, retail experience, and experience as a paralegal) make her a valued, highly flexible team member.

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