Had it explained to me by an IRS weenie... 'Most people think that an 'item' is what the tax target is. It's not. What you pay tax on is the transaction.. not the item'.
wait for it..
Yup. It's not the item.. it's the financial transaction.
What government has done is insert itself in the financial chain or every product, item, service, even abstract ideas.. if a financial transaction occurs, the gum'mint is there with it's claw out. Each step of the way... and right into the ground.
Heluva racket, enh?
"Ohh, yea; the Taxman..."