[SomeStupidPoint]

Don't rich people basically do exactly that to pay fewer taxes than they're supposed to because favors and gifts aren't taxed like income?

I'm not sure your example was the best for showing there aren't loopholes based on overly literal interpretations, given that the tax code is notorious for them.

[burkaman]

Ok yeah taxes were probably a bad example. I guess the tax code a lot closer to code that you follow literally than most of the legal system.

I hope the point was clear though, that the "spirit of the law" is a real thing, and most clever loopholes will not work with a human judge.