^ Right, @MiddKid86. I get your point. You and @annoyingdad were saying it suits the taxpayer in that it’s earned income as opposed to unearned income. I wasn’t thinking of the same comparison – earned to unearned.
Your thought: earned is better than unearned. I get it and I agree.
My thought: “non-existent money,” as in the support test, is even better (just tongue-in-cheek on this – a wild dream) and “earned income” for purposes of the kiddie tax is even better.
The frustrating part is that after calling it “earned income,” it then becomes whatever suits the IRS for tax collection purposes. Or so it seems.