Americans are taxed on their labor, and probably will continue to be taxed on their labor for the foreseeable future, but this isn't necessarily the fairest or the best way to tax people. Being taxed on one's labor just seems obnoxious, as is essentially taking food from the mouth of the one that has created it, and transferring it to the State or some other agent of the State without first giving the person that has labored any choice or voice in the matter. In an ideal world, a man should be able to keep what he has rightfully earned and not have to be compelled to pay a fee to the State for having done so.
However, it is understood, that governments need revenue to perform their duties, but there are myriad ways for government to fund and to collect that revenue. The best and fairest type of tax would seem to be consumption and excise taxes for the basic reason that the individual can make the choice as to whether they wish to consume or purchase a product or not, and that those that consume more, will for a certainty, pay more overall in taxes. America currently has excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, and airfares, to name some of the most prevalent, to which the excise tax is both typically hidden from the consumer (that is the amount of the tax is typically not separately shown as part of the selling price), as well as the excise tax percentage varies depending upon the good as well as whether it is considered to be "sinful" or similar. Excise taxes are an excellent way to raise revenue for governments, especially when they are applied to items that are discretionary as opposed to things that are necessary. Another reason why excise taxes are a preferred method of taxation is that taxes that are hidden from plain view are more easily accepted by the population at large, simply because they aren't as obvious as, for instance, a sales tax to which at the time that the transaction is actually made, the price of said item is now greater, because sales tax has been added.
In America, most non-food items are subject to sales tax in States that charge a sales tax, to which most consumers see the sales tax as simply being the cost of doing business and have consequently grown use to it. Because the sales tax is only applied to items that you purchase, the customer is still the master as to whether they wish to spend their hard-earned monies on said items or not. Additionally, the typical one-price fits all type of sales tax rate that we currently have, could easily be modified, so that certain items or even price points could be created, leading to different or tiered or higher sales tax percentage rates depending upon the actual item being purchased. In this age of computers and barcodes, making these sorts of adjustments to the sales tax code, should be something that could be readily managed and at the same time be constructive in recognizing that not all articles should have the same sales tax percentage applied to it.
While it is true that nobody really likes to pay taxes, consumption and excise taxes are a fairer way to tax people on their actions and their choices, as opposed to taxing people on their toil and without choice.