Reader Cherry Mudford asked:
” … wondered if anyone knew more about Time Banking … The concept of paying it forward is clearly a good one and this goes along that line, from what I understand of it. Similar to bartering but you bank your services against your needs? Apparently quite a large movement. We all have something we can offer in exchange for something we need.“
I knew practically nothing about Time Banks, so I did some reading and found websites galore that cover Time Banking, such as this one at timebanks.org, and this APR article (and podcast) in its public radio Marketplace feature. (As an aside, almost everything I read gave Edgar Cahn the glory or creating the concept of time banks in the mid-1990s. He co-authored “Time Dollars” and is the founder and president of TimeBanks USA.)
Most of us are more familiar with the barter concept, where people “swap” goods or services for others’ goods or services of equal or approximate value. No money is involved. I might give you $10 worth of bread if you give me $10 worth of eggs.
It’s similar when people barter their services. Someone who cleans houses for $20 per hour and wants to barter with a plumber who charges $80 per hour would clean for four hours to earn one hour of a plumber’s service.
Time banks don’t care about money; only time.
In time banks, time is the great equalizer. What’s most important is how much time one spends doing something, not how much one might normally earn for such work.
In time banks, an hour is an hour is an hour, whether it’s babysitting, bread-baking, architecture, well-digging or accounting.
OK, so I get that part.
But I’m still fuzzy on a couple of areas. Taxes, for one. Unless I misunderstood, bartering is taxable because currency values have been placed upon goods or services as a means of keeping track of what people get versus what they give.
From what I gather, there’s still debate about whether time banks are tax-exempt. I found some mention that the U.S. government deemed time banks tax-exempt, but that was more than 13 years ago, so is it still true? I don’t know.
Another part about time banks I found confusing was the communitywide aspect — people form and join time banks. Even more confusing (to me) were stories I read that described how community volunteer work could be deposited into a time bank, and those volunteers could later withdraw desired service hours.
I understand a one-on-one arrangement: I’ll work an hour for you; you work an hour for me.
But how do I deposit my services into the bank? Do I write an IOU? Do I do the work first and build up a credit? And let’s say I want to make a withdrawal in the form of having someone pull weeds for four hours. Do I “pay” that person directly via four hours (of say, bread-baking), or do I promise it to the time bank?
Maybe someone who understands time banks a bit better can fill us in.
But only if you have the time.
