Editing Wages as taxable income (section)

== The statute and a court opinion ==
[https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-118/t26/s61/ 26 U.S.C. § 61(a)(1)] defines gross income broadly and expressly includes "compensation for services," including fees and commissions. The provision also says "except as otherwise provided" in the tax subtitle, so a real exclusion or deduction can change the eventual taxable amount. Gross income and taxable income are not the same measure; [https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t26/s63/ § 63] defines taxable income in terms of gross income less allowed deductions.

In [https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/08/31/0576004.pdf Commissioner v. Dunkin, 500 F.3d 1065, 1069–70 (9th Cir. 2007)], the Ninth Circuit analyzed wages paid over to an ex-spouse. The court explained that receiving wages in exchange for labor is paradigmatic income under § 61(a)(1); the fact that the wages were used to satisfy an obligation did not, on its own, exclude them. The case involved attribution and marital-property issues, so its full result depends on those facts. The statement about ordinary wages directly addresses the premise that an exchange of labor makes them non-income.

The [https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/anti-tax-law-evasion-schemes-law-and-arguments-section-ii IRS's compilation of rejected arguments] identifies the labor-for-wages "zero-sum" theory and cites relevant decisions. That page helps locate cases; § 61 and judicial opinions are the more direct authorities.