What ever happened to the barter system?

[Detector]

I remember back in the late 70's to early 80's talk about a barter system. For example, I, as a computer tech, might list 10 hours of service valued at $500, some roofer might list his/her services valued at $1000, while a cabinet builder might list services valued at $800. Since no cash ever changed hands there were no taxes and it made it so the average Joe could afford a few luxuries they otherwise could not. The value of your services could be spent on any other services list. For example I could use my $500 toward a Dentist visit or down payment on a vehicle.

I always thought this sounded like a pretty good idea. I even remember the business I worked for being listed as bartered services.

[Highwayman]

I think the politicians in Washington started to look at ways to tax barter and it went away for some reason.

[Detector]

If I remember right there were a lot of professional services listed such as Lawyers, Doctors and Dentists and that the barter system had its own set of specialized legal aid for anyone in the barter system that might find themselves in court with the IRS. I knew it sounded too good to be true.