Growing food yourself is one thing. But that's not what we're talking about.
Eating food grown and prepared by other people in a community of 70+ people, in exchange for your labor in other areas, and paying no tax on any of it.... tax dodge.
How many people does it have to be, in your opinion, before it's a tax dodge?
I've given this one a lot of thought. Ordinarily, you're supposed to pay tax on the fair market value of goods and services received in return for your labor in barter transactions.
I can't find anything specific, but I think that since they share their income and produce as a collective, they're only liable for taxes on their share of the income that the collective produces. Monks don't have to pay taxes on the value they get from the monastery vegetable garden.
Tax avoidance is a time-honored American tradition. This is one way to do so. It sounds like they've done their legal homework if they've managed to survive 30 years without IRS trouble.
Eating food grown and prepared by other people in a community of 70+ people, in exchange for your labor in other areas, and paying no tax on any of it.... tax dodge.
How many people does it have to be, in your opinion, before it's a tax dodge?