Great article on LETS

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Great article on LETS

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jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 6:50 pm Post subject: Great article on LETS
Just had to say that. This is really relevent to what we are about IMHO jema

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 6:54 pm Post subject:
Brill, thanks Sarah D. But, and there's always a but, the link a the bottom took me to an accomodation agency

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 6:59 pm Post subject:
My fault, it should work now

bimini

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 156

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 6:59 pm Post subject:
Thanks for changing the link Tahir. It now works.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 7:01 pm Post subject:
BTW I thought it was excellent too

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 7:03 pm Post subject:

Tahir wrote:

My fault, it should work now

My fault surely

jema

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 7:04 pm Post subject:
I'll take the blame for anything

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 10:49 pm Post subject:
Not sure about the google FOREX ads, which it seems to pull up, how do others feel?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 04 11:54 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

Not sure about the google FOREX ads, which it seems to pull up, how do others feel?

We can always kill off particular ads if they are out of order.

jema

snowball
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 6246
Location: swindon

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 7:56 am Post subject:

A great article about a really good idea.
I used to know a number of unemployed groups that operated such schemes.
The government, (Tories at the time), got quite jittery about them. They tried to stop some peoples unemployment benefit because they claimed that bt taking part in a LETS scheme they were working and getting an income. They also made some noises about charging tax from people involved in such shemes.
I guess that they were very worried about an alternative way of living that misses out the private profit motive.

snowball
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 6246
Location: swindon

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 8:04 am Post subject:
Just another thought on a similar theme. Local Credit Unions are not as strong as they once were because layers of red tape and laws were introduced making it very difficult for a lot of ordinary people to run them voluntarily. It is tragic that many people have been driven into the arms of loan sharks because their local credit unions have closed down.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 8:15 am Post subject:

Thanks.

The previous LETS sytem in North Dorset closed down due to problems with the Housing BEnefit people, who said that any benefit , either money or in kin, derived from the LETS was to be seen as income in kind. ALthough they fought it, they didn't win, and the scheme closed because quite a high number of their meembers were on Housing Benefit; ironic in that these are the People that LETS is designed to help............

This however, was a local council issue, and each council has different rules regarding this, so I didn't go into it in the article. If someone sets up a new group, there will be something in the info they obtain from various sources which can advise on this matter. It's a minefield, really.
Similarly with income tax. A woman from Wessex LETS is being used a sa test case agaisnt the Inland REvenue; she is fighting to say that what she derives from LETS cannot be counted as income in kind, and therefore is not taxable; they are saying it should be counted. As far as I know this case is still going on, and I haven''t heard anything for a while now. In this case, however, the argument would be between the individual and the Inland Revenue.
Credit Unions are quite often affiliated to LETS schemes and vice versa; we (N.D. LETS)support our newly formed North Dorset Credit Union, and we exchange information with them about upcoming events and what's happening generally.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 11:19 am Post subject:

The tax office said (when I asked them) that as long as what you were doing wasn't your profession or main income (ie if you are an accountant offering massage, that's ok. If you are offering accountancy, it's taxable) but that was years ago, and might have changed. The inland revenue you will always win in the end. We usually just pay them, it's quicker.

Can you settle a LETs balance with money if you end up in debt - I know it's not in the spirit, but I haven't joined so far, because I can't really offer anything, although I expect there would be lots of things I could buy. I know anyone can offer babysitting and so on, but am so short of time at the moment its not practical. I will join when I qualify, but I imagine private physio would be an expensive luxury with a small uptake in a lot of communities, so I'm concerned I'll end up in debt - that really wouldn't be fair on other members.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 1:26 pm Post subject:

In our scheme, you cannot sttle with money, it's Stags or nothing! There is no debt in the conventional sense, though; it's a compeltely paper exercise, so the debt does not really exist. There is no shame in being in debt with Stags - it means you are using the system for what you need, and someone else has the Stags. W#e have never had a case of abusing this in the 6 years we have been going. If someone leaves, they are not required to settle their account; our system has an inbuilt ethereal Admin account, where we pay 10 Stags for hosting a meeting from. In some schemes the books have to balance, but in ours they do not; each scheme has its own individual rules within the wider framework. It's usually a case of "It works for us".

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 04 8:59 pm Post subject:
In the North Devon LETS they let you pay with money or units, and are charged accordingly. So far I have sold meat, for units. I have my eye on a rag rug, from a lady near by and some help in the vegetable garden.

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