> So something is only taxation if the money is wasted in your view?

Sometimes I wonder if half the problems we have in this century stem from our eagerness to slap labels onto things instead of just letting them be themselves.

I think a tax is any compulsory fee levied by the state. Even if you generalise the concept to all compulsory fees, I don't think it fits in here. You're free to not use the card brands payment networks, and pay them no fees. You can say that it's not practical to do so because that would severely limit your ability to pay for goods and services, but that's what transactions were like before the card brands innovated the industry. They render a service that provides extraordinary convenience for consumers, that's what you're paying for. It's no more a tax than any other expense that's factored into the margins of the goods and services you buy.

It is compulsory fee if merchants don't offer a cash-discount.

Visa doesn't collect any fees on cash transactions. This argument gets contrived pretty quickly. When you go to a restaurant, technically the cost of toilet paper is factored into your bill whether you go to the bathroom or not. If you shop online, technically the cost of rent for the retailers brick and mortar stores will be factored into the price. Transaction fees aren't a tax, they're the price paid for consuming a service.