[refurb]

Because the money has already been taxed?

But to your point, a gift tax also stops people from “gifting” their gardener and avoiding taxes on both ends.

[microtherion]

> Because the money has already been taxed?

I stipulated that it is the SAME money. In both cases, it has "already been taxed" by the person spending the money. Yet in one case, the person receiving the money pays taxes, in the other, they do not.

[refurb]

Yes, but one is a business transaction (exchange of goods or services) and one is not.

So i would argue they aren’t the same.