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Bartering: Taxable and Nontaxable Income (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Bartering” within taxable and nontaxable income. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

This section discusses various types of income. You may have taxable income from certain transactions even if no money changes hands. For example, you may have taxable income if you lend money at a below-market interest rate or have a debt you owe canceled.

Bartering

Bartering is an exchange of property or services. You must include in your income, at the time received, the FMV of property or services you receive in bartering. If you exchange services with another person and you both have agreed ahead of time on the value of the services, that value will be accepted as FMV unless the value can be shown to be otherwise.

Generally, you report this income on Schedule C (Form 1040). However, if the barter involves an exchange of something other than services, such as in Example 23, later, you may have to use another form or schedule instead.

Example 20.

You’re a self-employed attorney who performs legal services for a client, a small corporation. The corporation gives you shares of its stock as payment for your services. You must include the FMV of the shares in your income on Schedule C (Form 1040) in the year you receive them.

Example 21.

You’re a self-employed accountant. You and a house painter are members of a barter club. Members contact each other directly and bargain for the value of the services to be performed. In return for accounting services you provided, the house painter painted your home. You must report as your income on Schedule C (Form 1040) the FMV of the house painting services you received. The house painter must include in income the FMV of the accounting services you provided.

Example 22.

You’re self-employed and a member of a barter club. The club uses credit units as a means of exchange. It adds credit units to your account for goods or services you provide to members, which you can use to purchase goods or services offered by other members of the barter club. The club subtracts credit units from your account when you receive goods or services from other members. You must include in your income the value of the credit units that are added to your account, even though you may not actually receive goods or services from other members until a later tax year.

Example 23.

You own a small apartment building. In return for 6 months rent-free use of an apartment, an artist gives you a work of art she created. You must report as rental income on Schedule E (Form 1040) the FMV of the artwork, and the artist must report as income on Schedule C (Form 1040) the fair rental value of the apartment.

Form 1099-B from barter exchange.

If you exchanged property or services through a barter exchange, Form 1099-B or a similar statement from the barter exchange should be sent to you by February 15, 2026. It should show the value of cash, property, services, credits, or scrip you received from exchanges during 2025. The IRS will also receive a copy of Form 1099-B.

Backup withholding.

In most cases, the income you receive from bartering isn’t subject to regular income tax withholding. However, backup withholding will apply in certain circumstances to ensure that income tax is collected on this income.

Under backup withholding, the barter exchange must withhold, as income tax, 24% of the income if:

  • You don’t give the barter exchange your TIN, or

  • The IRS notifies the barter exchange that you gave it an incorrect TIN.

If you join a barter exchange, you must certify under penalties of perjury that your TIN is correct and that you aren’t subject to backup withholding. If you don’t make this certification, backup withholding may begin immediately. The barter exchange will give you a Form W-9, or a similar form, for you to make this certification. The barter exchange will withhold tax only up to the amount of any cash paid to you or deposited in your account and any scrip or credit issued to you (and converted to cash).

Tip:

If tax is withheld from your barter income, the barter exchange will report the amount of tax withheld on Form 1099-B or similar statement.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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