{"items": [{"author": "Dennis", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916827463292", "anchor": "fb-916827463292", "service": "fb", "text": "I was once audited by the IRS. A beedy eyed accountant was out to get me. Looked and looked and it wound up I made a mistake and owed them $75. (You only depreciate the building, not the land.) He got up in disgust and said it was a waste of his time. I said, but you got $75. He said, we were hoping for a couple of thousand to make it worth their while. Sooooo, in mid 1970s dollars the IRS isn't going to chase you down for less than $2,000.", "timestamp": "1513632425"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916827463292&reply_comment_id=916831041122", "anchor": "fb-916827463292_916831041122", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes they will. I went through this just a few years ago. They audited me twice in a row; the first time they got a few hundred dollars; the second time they had to pay me. Both times it cost a lot in accounting fees, though, so I certainly didn't come out ahead.", "timestamp": "1513633781"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916827463292&reply_comment_id=916831120962", "anchor": "fb-916827463292_916831120962", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Oh, and Walker's comment reminded me that they hired a lot of new, inexperienced, gung-ho investigators a few years ago -- mine was one of those. Had no idea what she was doing.", "timestamp": "1513633832"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916829913382", "anchor": "fb-916829913382", "service": "fb", "text": "If they invest in prosecuting you, they certainly want to make a profit on it. And intelligent, experienced career professionals will be as creative as they can be in penalizing you. Expect that.
At some level, we want tax dodgers to get nailed, since the rest of us get to pay more for their lack of contribution. But it sure is easy to cheer for the common man, and jeer the tax collector.", "timestamp": "1513633291"}, {"author": "Hal", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916833825542", "anchor": "fb-916833825542", "service": "fb", "text": "I am not a lawyer, and nothing that follows should be construed as legal advice.
According to the IRS website, gifts are not taxable. I think favors given (but not exchanged) would also count as gifts.
https://www.irs.com/articles/what-is-taxable-income-2
\"In some cases I think it may come down to whether we make an explicit agreement vs doing things informally.\"
I think such an \"informal\" exchange would be seen as an actual (taxable) exchange if the IRS cared about it, i.e. if it was high enough in value. If I cleaned your house for a year out of the goodness of my heart, and then you bought me a car as a gift, I'm pretty sure that would be taxable, even if we never agreed on any kind of deal. I wonder if the amount of time between such events affects enforceability.
The relevant IRS Code lists what IS taxable, which includes \"Compensation for services, including fees, commissions, fringe benefits, and similar items\"
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/61
Your employer decides what counts as compensation, within the restrictions of this very long definition: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.414%28s%29-1
I have no idea about the legality of agreeing to donate to tax-deductible charities in exchange for donations to other charities. That seems really fuzzy. I'd be interested to know.
It seems clear that an agreement on changes in diet - or any other agreement that doesn't involve the exchange of goods or services - is not taxable.", "timestamp": "1513635097"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916833825542&reply_comment_id=916862617842", "anchor": "fb-916833825542_916862617842", "service": "fb", "text": "→ \"It seems clear that an agreement on changes in diet - or any other agreement that doesn't involve the exchange of goods or services - is not taxable.\"
Let's say I pay you to be vegan. It seems like you're selling me the service of not eating animal products, no?", "timestamp": "1513645766"}, {"author": "Hal", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916833825542&reply_comment_id=916961080522", "anchor": "fb-916833825542_916961080522", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I imagine there has to me a more direct connection between a service and its beneficiary, but the case of paying someone to do this certainly creates some doubt in my mind.", "timestamp": "1513703535"}, {"author": "Kelly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916835467252", "anchor": "fb-916835467252", "service": "fb", "text": "should we add additional tax to graduates on all additional wages they make due to their education? knowledge is a kind of capital, and making money off that capital is capital gains.", "timestamp": "1513635962"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1513636284"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1513636347"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916836076032&reply_comment_id=916863995082", "anchor": "fb-916836076032_916863995082", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Which is also why I decided to go with the IRS definition of income for deciding how much to tithe on. Then I don't have to figure out a parallel complex system.", "timestamp": "1513646175"}, {"author": "Ryan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442", "anchor": "fb-916840861442", "service": "fb", "text": "Is it relevant that it states that bartered *items* are taxable? So, swapping a computer for a diamond necklace would be taxable barter, but bartering services (like babysitting or driving to the airport) might not be? I would think especially if you don\u2019t specifically have a business doing so (like, if you own a taxi, maybe a ride to the airport would be considered an item, or if you have a babysitting business?).", "timestamp": "1513637827"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442&reply_comment_id=916862832412", "anchor": "fb-916840861442_916862832412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Bartered services are still taxable: \"An example of bartering is a plumber exchanging plumbing services for the dental services of a dentist.\"
https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420", "timestamp": "1513645848"}, {"author": "Ryan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442&reply_comment_id=916864099872", "anchor": "fb-916840861442_916864099872", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Oh, okay. Although those are still examples of professionals bartering their professional services (like the difference between a daycare worker and someone who simply babysits occasionally, or the difference between driving a friend to the airport and maybe an Uber driver).", "timestamp": "1513646202"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442&reply_comment_id=916869109832", "anchor": "fb-916840861442_916869109832", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The IRS generally taxes you whether you're a professional or not. Here they don't say this explicitly, but they do say: \"If you're in a trade or business, you may be able to deduct certain costs you incur to perform services that you barter.\"", "timestamp": "1513648147"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442&reply_comment_id=916869454142", "anchor": "fb-916840861442_916869454142", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Here's an article that argues that we should only tax bartered services if they're by professionals: https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi...", "timestamp": "1513648345"}, {"author": "Ryan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916840861442&reply_comment_id=916882183632", "anchor": "fb-916840861442_916882183632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ So, it says that the self employment tax is only applicable if you make $400 or more. I\u2019m not sure if that applies to other taxes as well, but if it does, it could give some leeway about it. I mean, it makes no sense to tax if the grand total for the year is, like, ten dollars (in barter, not ten dollars worth of taxes). And that could help in dividing between basically reciprocal favors and actual business.", "timestamp": "1513654248"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916845467212", "anchor": "fb-916845467212", "service": "fb", "text": "You think about the coolest things!", "timestamp": "1513640805"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916846250642", "anchor": "fb-916846250642", "service": "fb", "text": "Farmers barter like crazy, trade favors, avoid cash. \"I'll cut and bail your hay for 1/4 the crop.\" Give away eggs and meat and produce all the time. And accept other things. Not technically direct exchange, but... $40K goes a lot farther in Idaho.", "timestamp": "1513641070"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916846250642&reply_comment_id=916863840392", "anchor": "fb-916846250642_916863840392", "service": "fb", "text": "→ That's definitely taxable, but I'm sure lots of people aren't reporting it.", "timestamp": "1513646053"}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916848566002", "anchor": "fb-916848566002", "service": "fb", "text": "Nozick famously asked why we tax bankers on their money but not hippies on their leisure.", "timestamp": "1513642318"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916848566002&reply_comment_id=916863725622", "anchor": "fb-916848566002_916863725622", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We don't tax things people do for themselves in general, I think because this goes bad places. If you cook for me, and you're a good cook, we might negotiate $30 while if you're a mediocre cook we might only negotiate $10. If I cook for myself, and you tax me at the fair market value of the food I produce, then I might need to make terrible food in order to afford to cook for myself.", "timestamp": "1513646020"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352", "anchor": "fb-916864858352", "service": "fb", "text": "Is there a field of Optimal Taxation? Trying to figure out what regimes extract the most revenue with the least distortion? It seems like if policy was going to follow research at all (which of course it wouldn't) it would be an incredibly high value field", "timestamp": "1513646451"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352&reply_comment_id=916864938192", "anchor": "fb-916864858352_916864938192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ (All I know is that The Cool Kids like land value taxes)", "timestamp": "1513646500"}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352&reply_comment_id=916865487092", "anchor": "fb-916864858352_916865487092", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes!", "timestamp": "1513646741"}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352&reply_comment_id=916865512042", "anchor": "fb-916864858352_916865512042", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It has a really wierd name though", "timestamp": "1513646748"}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352&reply_comment_id=916865517032", "anchor": "fb-916864858352_916865517032", "service": "fb", "text": "→ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_tax", "timestamp": "1513646749"}, {"author": "William", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916864858352&reply_comment_id=916877792432", "anchor": "fb-916864858352_916877792432", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Lol @ Georgism being cool these days", "timestamp": "1513651802"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042", "anchor": "fb-916868007042", "service": "fb", "text": "Have you heard of Time Banking?
\"Unlike bartering, which places a cash value on goods and services (and is taxed accordingly), time bank services are considered charitable acts informally traded among members of a group.
This reciprocity gives time banks an impact beyond the pocketbook, says Cahn: They free members from \u201cfeeling trapped and powerless to make a change upward in their quality of life.\u201d
Time dollars earn no interest and have no equivalent monetary value. Each hour of one member\u2019s service equals an hour of another\u2019s, regardless of market value. Stuffing envelopes is worth exactly as much as preparing a tax return, mending a pair of socks or rewiring a lamp.
By placing the same value on all services, time banks not only avoid tax issues, but also encourage members to share abilities that might not have much cash value but can do much to help neighbors.\"
https://www.aarp.org/.../info-02-2012/time-banking.html", "timestamp": "1513647709"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916868456142", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916868456142", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There's also the hyper-local \"Buy Nothing\" movement. https://buynothingproject.org/.../buy-nothing-groups.../", "timestamp": "1513647866"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916870027992", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916870027992", "service": "fb", "text": "→ A lot of timebanks say that their \"time dollars\" aren't taxable, but this isn't how I read the IRS:
\"Trade dollars allow barter to take place between parties when one party may not have a simultaneous need or desire for the goods or services of the other members. Barter exchanges act as the bookkeeper for keeping track of trade dollars that participants accumulate. Earning trade or barter dollars through a barter exchange is considered taxable income, just as if your product or service was sold for cash.\"
https://www.irs.gov/.../small-businesses.../barter-exchanges", "timestamp": "1513648596"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916873401232", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916873401232", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman this article is also of interest, and surprisingly on-point: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420", "timestamp": "1513649818"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916877952112", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916877952112", "service": "fb", "text": "→ \"The IRS refers to a company that facilitates bartering,
confusingly, as a \"barter exchange.\" According to the IRS:
'A barter exchange is any person or organization with members or
clients that contract with each other (or with the barter exchange) to
jointly trade or barter property or services. The term does not
include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange
of similar services on a noncommercial basis.'
This definition has led many people to either mistakenly believe or assertively
argue that noncommercial barter transactions are not taxed. This is incorrect.
A transaction does not have to be connected to a \"barter exchange\" to be
taxable. Rather, the definition only triggers a reporting obligation by the
person or organization facilitating a barter transaction.\"
https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi...", "timestamp": "1513651891"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916887642692", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916887642692", "service": "fb", "text": "→ However, \"The term doesn't include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis.\" I think that that means that in your example of babysitting exchanged for a ride to the airport, unless you are a professional babysitter AND your friend operates a limo or taxi service, it's not barter in the view of the IRS. On the other hand, if you set up a website for a friend who is a professional landscaper and landscapes your home in exchange, that probably *is* barter.
Another important aspect is professional costs and cost of goods sold. In the example above, as a programmer, you would declare the retail value of the landscaping as part of your income, but not have much to deduct from that as cost of goods. The landscaper, on the other hand, would declare the value of your professional services as income, and deduct the costs of materials used in providing the landscaping services, including transportation, loam, fertilizer, sub-contractors, etc. If the cost of goods on each side is high enough and the profit margins are low enough, and the prices can be defended as legit, then the amount of profit for the IRS to tax might be quite low.", "timestamp": "1513657117"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916868007042&reply_comment_id=916914468932", "anchor": "fb-916868007042_916914468932", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael: see my comment immediately above yours", "timestamp": "1513679407"}, {"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916870676692", "anchor": "fb-916870676692", "service": "fb", "text": "An idea that I think of as being fairly libertarian is the notion that taxes pay for government services. Taxes on income per se don't necessarily make sense in that model. Taxes on property do, to pay for the services that protect your property, like fire and police and such. Taxes on transactions make sense, and in a radical libertarian world, you can make them entirely voluntary: If you pay the sales tax, and I defraud you, you have some recourse, whereas if you don't, then you don't. So you'd pay a tax on barter transactions if you want to make sure the swap is enforceable, and not bother if you don't really care, or trust the person enough, or whatever.", "timestamp": "1513648705"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916870676692&reply_comment_id=916887917142", "anchor": "fb-916870676692_916887917142", "service": "fb", "text": "→ A privatized version of that is insurance on eBay purchases, which protects you against fraud, accident, or error over and above the degree to which eBay already provides protection.", "timestamp": "1513657222"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916888590792", "anchor": "fb-916888590792", "service": "fb", "text": "Another example that occurs to me -- I recently put someone up who was visiting for Winter Meltdown. Quite aside from IRS issues, it would be illegal for me to rent out my room, due to NYC's anti-AirBNB laws, but I didn't do so and could defend myself in a court of law if I needed to; there was an introduction from a mutual friend, and as we are all contra dancers, we socialized together at the event, and they took me out to dinner after -- which I did not require and which neither they nor I thought of as payment for the accommodations.
Having met thusly, shortly after that, they assisted me in volunteering at the Dawn Dance. None of this was barter, but all of the individual actions, in different context, could have been part of barter transactions. I think that a a key issue is that the facilitating organization, CDNY, is not a barter exchange and did not act like one; no cash values were assigned to the various transactions, and no quid pro quo.", "timestamp": "1513657649"}, {"author": "Nir", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916899568792", "anchor": "fb-916899568792", "service": "fb", "text": "Drug deals are taxable. Check out \"Illegal activities\" https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17
\"Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.\"", "timestamp": "1513664886"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916934922942", "anchor": "fb-916934922942", "service": "fb", "text": "It seems there are two different questions here. First, as a practical matter what turns out to be taxed. While there is no elegant first principle for distinguishing the two cases the difference is drawn in a psychologically natural point, i.e., there are relatively much fewer interactions that fall between the large scale clear exchange of goods, formal professional services etc.. and informal, small scale, unaccounted trades of favors.
If you dig deep enough into most human distinctions you'll find something similar. Provided we need to draw some kind of line this seems like the right place to do it. And we surely do need to draw a line if we are going to have individuals pay income taxes (property taxes are too hard to apply, VAT too regressive, corporate taxes too distorting etc..).
The second question is why penalize people for being explicit. Well for the post part the answer to the first question applies here.
However, more generally, the goal of individual income tax isn't to tax TRANSACTIONS but to get a sense of individuals ability to contribute (i.e. general wealth) that doesn't get mirred in the problems of property taxes. As it happens the vast majority of people have a single primary specialized activity responsible for the vast majority of their money and are compensated for this in an explicit formal manner. Thus the formal professional exchanges are a nice heuristic for something like how well off someone is.", "timestamp": "1513694389"}, {"author": "Shea", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=916949014702", "anchor": "fb-916949014702", "service": "fb", "text": "The same reasoning makes everything interstate commerce and thus subject to federal jurisdiction (see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich )", "timestamp": "1513698093"}, {"author": "Chelsea", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917124268492", "anchor": "fb-917124268492", "service": "fb", "text": "Yeah, seems to me like taxation as we do it is a disincentive against explicitness/quantification. Better not try to find new and exciting ways to quantify the value you're getting out of all of these other barters!", "timestamp": "1513797649"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917131743512", "anchor": "fb-917131743512", "service": "fb", "text": "What a fun discussion! Hmmm... So... Why do we tax the exchange of goods and services in the first place? Aren't there better ways to fund government?", "timestamp": "1513801542"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917131743512&reply_comment_id=917132457082", "anchor": "fb-917131743512_917132457082", "service": "fb", "text": "→ In general you want to tax richer people more. What I'd like to do is tax wealth, but that tends to run away when you tax it (except land, we should tax that more). So you tax income because that can be progressive.", "timestamp": "1513802035"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917442376002", "anchor": "fb-917442376002", "service": "fb", "text": "Homesharing tries to match people with extra space in their homes to people looking for housing, generally with no or reduced rent in exchange for helping out around the house. For example, here's a program in Vermont which says:
\"If you are looking for a housemate that can offer extra help around the house in exchange for some or all of the rent, we can find a match. Housemates provide an average of 6-8 hours of service a week plus pay a small rent or help with utility bills. When we meet with you, we will discuss what a fair exchange might be for the tasks you want help with. Services someone sharing your home might provide to you: ...\" [1]
Is that taxable? They don't say anything on their website about taxes, but in their Homesharing Guide [2] they say \"NOTE: If you charge rent it is considered income for federal and state tax purposes.\" Which I guess implies they think only the financial portion is rent, and any barter is untaxed? I wonder if anyone in the Homesharing movement has gotten an opinion on the IRS on this?
[1] https://www.homesharevermont.org/share-your-home/
[2] https://www.homesharevermont.org/.../09/homesharingGuide.pdf", "timestamp": "1513967498"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917442376002&reply_comment_id=917442530692", "anchor": "fb-917442376002_917442530692", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Surely someone is setting up the sexualized version of this.
As far as the IRS issue I'm pretty sure that it doesn't count as a gift when you let family members stay with you rent free...but who knows if the same rule covers both cases.", "timestamp": "1513967582"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917442376002&reply_comment_id=917532230932", "anchor": "fb-917442376002_917532230932", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I would think that household chores that do not require special skills are a reasonable expectation of roommates, and that only if they are paying a reduced rent and working extra chores (which I have known people to do) would it possibly be taxable as income.
As a counter-example, I once carpooled with someone (my car), having asked them to share driving and expenses. I was not well prepared for the drive, and they wound up doing most of the driving (because they were too impatient to allow me to nap a bit at a rest area). They then stiffed me for the gas money, claiming that as they had done more of the driving, they didn't owe me anything for the gas. I cite this as an example of a situation where shared chores and shared expenses were not mutually agreed to be fungible; to return to your example, doing extra chores does not necessarily count as paying extra rent.", "timestamp": "1514002770"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916824853522?comment_id=917442376002&reply_comment_id=918306269752", "anchor": "fb-917442376002_918306269752", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Wrote to HomeShare Vermont, and they replied: \"If you\u2019re not charging rent, I can\u2019t imagine that it would count towards taxable income since you wouldn\u2019t be earning any income from it. It\u2019s probably better to ask someone who knows tax law though just to be sure.\"", "timestamp": "1514433836"}]}