26 U.S.C. §61
TITLE 26 > Subtitle A > CHAPTER
1 > Subchapter B > PART I > Sec. 61.
Sec. 61. - Gross
income defined
(a) General definition
Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle, gross income means all
income from whatever source derived, including (but not limited to) the
following items:
(1) Compensation for services, including fees, commissions, fringe benefits, and similar items;
(2) Gross
income derived from business;
(3) Gains
derived from dealings in property;
(4) Interest;
(5) Rents;
(6) Royalties;
(7) Dividends;
(8) Alimony
and separate maintenance payments;
(9) Annuities;
(10) Income
from life insurance and endowment contracts;
(11) Pensions;
(12) Income
from discharge of indebtedness;
(13) Distributive
share of partnership gross income;
(14) Income
in respect of a decedent; and
(15) Income
from an interest in an estate or trust.
(b) Cross references For items specifically included in gross income,
see part II (sec. 71 and following). For items specifically excluded from
gross income, see part III (sec. 101 and following)
In re Marshall, 102 F. 323, 324 (9th Cir. 1900)
“'Life,' said Mr. Justice Swayne in the Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. 127, 21 L.Ed. 425, 'is the gift of God, and the right to preserve it is the most sacred of the rights of man. Liberty is freedom from all restraints but such as are justly imposed by law. Beyond that line lies the domain of usurpation and tyranny. Property is everything which has an exchangeable value, and the right of property includes the power to dispose of it according to the will of the owner. Labor is property, and, as such, merits protection. The right to make it available is next in importance to the rights of life and liberty. It lies, to a large extent, at the foundation of most other forms of property. ' ”
[In re Marshall, 102 F. 323, 324 (9th Cir. 1900)]
Butchers' Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746, 757 (1884)
“It has been well said that, "The property which every man has in his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable. The patrimony of the poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his own hands, and to hinder his employing this strength and dexterity in what manner he thinks proper, without injury to his neighbor, is a plain violation of this most sacred property. It is a manifest encroachment upon the just liberty both of the workman and of those who might be disposed to employ him. As it hinders the one from working at what he thinks proper, so it hinders the others from employing whom they think proper." Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Bk. I. Chap. 10.”)
[Butchers' Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746, 757 (1884)]
[EDITORIAL: Your labor is your property. And the money your employer deducts from your checks and sends to IRS may also be RIGHTFULLY your property. Your primary claim of right is against the employer with whom you exchanged your labor. he is the one in breach of his agreement, if anyone is. Going to the IRS to get that money back is a whole different game. They have every right to refuse to return that money to you until/unless you make a proper claim for refund. This is partly because they know the employer is the one who is liable for the theft of your money, not them.]
TITLE 5 > PART III > Subpart G > CHAPTER 85 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 8501
§ 8501. Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter—
(4) “compensation”
means cash benefits payable to an individual with respect to his unemployment
including any portion thereof payable with respect to dependents;
(a) DEFINITION.
(1) The term compensation has the same meaning as the term wages
in section 3121(a), determined without regard to section 3121(b)(9),
except as specifically limited by the Railroad Retirement Tax Act
(chapter 22 of the Internal Revenue Code) or regulation. The Commissioner
may provide any additional guidance that may be necessary or appropriate
in applying the definitions of sections 3121(a) and 3231(e).
(2) A payment made by an employer
to an individual through the employer's payroll is presumed, in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, to be compensation for
services rendered as an employee of the employer. Likewise, a payment
made by an employee organization to an employee representative through
the organization's payroll is presumed, in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, to be compensation for services rendered by the
employee representative as such. For rules regarding the treatment
of deductions by an employer from remuneration of an employee, see
section 31.3123-1.
(3) The term compensation is not confined
to amounts paid for active service, but includes amounts paid for
an identifiable period during which the employee is absent from
the active service of the employer and, in the case of an employee
representative, amounts paid for an identifiable period during which
the employee representative is absent from the active service of
the employee organization.
(4) Compensation includes amounts
paid to an employee for loss of earnings during an identifiable
period as the result of the displacement of the employee to a less
remunerative position or occupation as well as pay for time lost.
(5) For rules regarding the treatment of reimbursement and other
expense allowance amounts, see section 31.3121(a)-3. For rules regarding
the inclusion of fringe benefits in compensation, see section 31.3121(a)-1T.
(b) SPECIAL RULES.
(1) If the amount of compensation earned in any calendar month
by an individual as an employee in the service of a local lodge
or division of a railway-labor-organization employer is less than
$25, the amount is disregarded for purposes of determining the employee
tax under section 3201 and the employer tax under section 3221.
(2) Compensation for service as a delegate to a national or international
convention of a railway-labor-organization employer is disregarded
for purposes of determining the employee tax under section 3201
and the employer tax under section 3221 if the individual rendering
the service has not previously rendered service, other than as a
delegate, which may be included in the individual's years of service
for purposes of the Railroad Retirement Act.
(3) For special
provisions relating to the compensation of certain general chairs
or assistant general chairs of a general committee of a railway-labor-organization
employer, see paragraph (c)(3) of section 31.3231(b)-1.
[T.D. 6515, 25 FR 13032, Dec. 20, 1960; 25 FR 14021, Dec. 31, 1960,
as amended by T.D. 7600, 44 FR 15485, Mar. 14, 1979; T.D. 8276, 54 FR
51027, Dec. 12, 1989; T.D. 8324, 55 FR 51696, Dec. 17, 1990; T.D. 8582,
59 FR 66188-66191, Dec. 23, 1994.]