If my company paid me, they are poorer by $1.
If the government paid me, the aggregate citizenry is poorer by $1.
If the government printed it, the total value of US dollars in circulation has decreased by $1.
Technically, activities like mining precious metals or gems could count as creating wealth, but obviously basing an economy on an arbitrarily-priced material as silver or gold is a bad idea. Anybody who believes gold isn't a fiat currency is mad.
The most successful way that governments seem to have found to tax the wealthy is inflation, which is a "tax" on liquid currency. But there's ways for the wealthy to avoid inflation which aren't available to the working class, such as buying various foreign currencies. A direct tax, rather than "stealth" taxes, is a healthier and more sustainable choice.