"Or have they figgered out how to tax that yet?"

Hah, they do tax barter, at the "fair market value gains" or using other vague terms.

However, the good news is their taxation strategy relies mostly on self-report.

In other words, most small-fry can kind of ignore it.

It's a bit like (not) reporting your sales tax savings from Amazon.

Hell, the IRS even tries to tax the goodwill of your company, if you'll let them.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/intangibles

"Intangible Property is property that has value but cannot be seen or touched. It includes things such as: goodwill, business books and records, a patent, a license..."