Theymos doesn't encourage DTs to tag for merit abuse.
However, a huge number of users on the forum put a red tag for it. I can give you a million examples of such tags from DT1
You should trust none of them, all of those millions are wrong, all of them should be out of DT.
If a DT member tags you for something stupid involving merit (ie. probably anything less than selling merit), then they're not going to be a DT member for much longer.