OK so when I posted this original question it was to ask where there is an official IRS cite which says one can't be on payroll as a partner. I knew that it is generally accepted one cannot do this, and I knew there were a lot of places it was implied or was said in an unofficial place like a pub or the irs.gov website, neither of which are cites which form legal support for a tax position. So I was like, I know this is how it is, but where does it say it, not colloquially but in a cite? And people wrote back all kinds of examples of how it says it casually or implies it and said if I can't read between the lines I'm just being difficult. But as it turns out the question was valid, because the IRS has checked and realized they had never specified it and so they have now issued Revenue Ruling 69-184 to establish officially that partners cannot be employees. I was right to find it lacking, and I promise to accept apologies graciously 🙂
