You're missing on the active verb. I said medicare comes from your check, but you do not write medicare a check, your employer writes medicare a check, therefore even though it is your money you do not pay (active verb meaning to give money in some form) medicare. Your employer pays medicare with your money. It's not slicing and dicing, when talking about direct interaction with the government that needs to be limited only to active verbs performed by the person. Any interaction you have with the government (or anybody else for that matter) that does not have you as the subject or direct object of an active verb is not direct interaction.