Tax the rain? Tax the sun? Who would assess it?

But tax the water? Yes. Who pumps it? Who delivers it? Sometimes it just don't rain, son. So that doesn't tax the rain, just the means used to gather and distribute it.

Tax the materials used to build the greenhouse in which you start your plants? Yes. Tax the structure itself as a real estate improvement? Again, yes. So that doesn't tax the sun, just the means used to gather and husband it.

Tax the land? You bet.

Tax the seed? The tools? The gas for your rototiller? The fertilizer (if any)? Yes, yes, yes, and -- even, eventually, if you use compost and outhouse minings -- yes.

Tax the income from the produce? Again, yes, unless you're not declaring that income. Which is, of course, your option. Local, state and federal authorities tend to look dimly on that kind of thing, though.

Tax the sale of the produce? Well, that depends on which state you're living in. If you eat it all yourself, you'd be saved from that fate, and it would also reduce your fertilizer taxes if you're thrifty.

Give it away, and you might even be able to claim a deduction, if the recipients will give you a receipt. But then, how much of your time is it worth to do the April arithmetic?

The only way to escape taxes is to leave civilization.

Regards--
Mary Anne