Don't blame the accountants.  They get paid to keep track of things, particularly money.  

The politicians have discovered that if they call something that gives money to the government a 'fee' in Oregon, the people don't have as many opportunities to vote against it as they do if the same money going to the same government is called a 'tax'.  

It is the Humpty Dumpty "Through the Looking Glass School of Law.  

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all."