RE: [OT] Redefinition of Black Market [was Re: Screen-free Linux?]
| > If you sell me a piece of kit you very legally own, and I pay you in
| > cash, that's black market : no trace, no taxes paid. The property traded
| > is not necessarily illegal, it's just that the transaction is not
| > visible to the State.
|
| Am I a business, or just a regular Joe?
|
| If I'm a business, then yes, that's the black market. If I
| just sell you my old PC, then that's the perfectly legal (at
| least in the USA) secondary market. Of course, if I make a
| habit of buying and selling used kit, then, yes, I would be
| engaging in commerce, and then must either register with the
| state and collect taxes, or enter the black market.
To give a U.S. Tax point of view... According to IRS guidelines, if you make
a profit on the transaction (any transaction, in business or private citizen
trading with my neighbor), you owe income tax on that transaction. Now
then, determining the amount or profit could be problematic (Let's just not
go there). The IRS wants their share no matter what. However, they cannot
enforce what they do not see, so cash is usually a way to get by. If you
engage in a large cash business, most people get "caught" by depositing said
cash into banks, which is very traceable. It's not to difficult to observe
an individual and determine expenditure patterns based upon lifestyle, infer
an income, and determine whether tax has been avoided.
My $0.02,
Brooks
Reply to: