Larceny– theft, or more specifically, theft of personal property.
Larceny and theft have a difference. Beckstrom & Beckstrom write on their blog, “The main difference between larceny and theft is that larceny refers specifically to the unlawful taking of physical property, while theft is a broader term that includes various crimes.” Then they offer the classic square-rectangle relationship with this summary, “All larceny is theft, but not all theft is larceny.”
Therefore, Calvin Coolidge really got it right when he said, “The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny.”
While we use Taxation is Theft as a rally cry and hashtag, Taxation is Larceny is more apt.