Looks like a slick way to dodge the state sales tax, and possibly the federal income tax under the guise of "socially conscious." Perhaps the state and the feds should look into this.

I could also start as a violation of banking laws, and perhaps come under some sort of regulation by the treasury dept.

PISH! Local currencies are simply a local discount given by participating merchants. It's no different than one of those supermarket "member" cards or a senior citizen discount.

I know our government and economy are in big trouble, but local currencies in a few lefty, tight knit areas is not going to bring either down.

Not saying they would. Just saying that they might be illegal.

There is a lot of law in this area. Locally the Fremont district had a local currency for a while. I believe it was called Fremont Hours. The idea was that initially it was a trade of service hours: 1 hour of massage for 1 hour of dentistry. And as I recollect the way around the currency and banking laws was that these hours were considered discount coupons.

I figure that technically you can pay people in whatever way you wish. If I want to, I can pay my employees with sea shells or if I own a resterant I can request that you pay for your meal with pez dispensers. Money is legal tender only meaning that people have to accept it but they can take whatever it is the want. I am sure theres a lot of gray area and its a very interesting topic.

As long as the merchants who took the local bucks reported them as income, then there would be no violation of federal tax laws. Using local currency is no differnt then bartering. And when you barter, for tax purposes, you value it at the fair market value of property received and you must report any gains from bartering.

It isn't spelled Cahoona, it's spelled K-A-H-U-N-A, as anyone who has ever seen "Gidget" would know.

Carry on.

what about legal tender, for all debts public and private?

coupons, eh? Seems like the dentist was getting a raw deal, though. and that white-shoe lawyer...