Quote Originally Posted by shikamaru View Post
Income tax is an excise (tax) on the transfer of money.

The transference (event) is that which is taxed.
The "money" in question is non-treasury issued money. Bank credit or other money substitutes.

That "money" is measured by ones wages.

I like the tree and fruit analogy. Phrase it in terms of the 16th amendment. Income derived (severed, separated from the source) from any source whatever. Has your pay been severed from you? I would say not. Think of a house (property), someone rents it from you. The rent is the fruit of that property (it has been severed from the source).

I believe that an income tax on bank credit could have been sustained before the 16th amendment was ever dreamed up. It is a red herring.