That won't hold up in tax court.

...

OP: You are completely correct. Years ago I put together a website portfolio (pre-Github or anything similar) and was astonished to learn that approximately 0.00 percent of employers bothered to look at it. At the job I eventually landed I asked during the interview if they had looked at it. Nope. Absolutely baffling to me, but I suppose the problem is that side-projects are invariably outside the hiring process.

Everyone went to school, everyone has a work history, everyone has a behavioral profile, everyone can attempt algo questions, but only 1 percent of applicants have side projects. So how can that be judged consistently across candidates?