How can nullification be polytheism, and is it more accurate to categorize it under disbelief or polytheism?

Ta'til (negation/denial) is disbelief and denial, and it is closer to kufr (disbelief) than to shirk (definition) (polytheism). Sometimes each term is used to mean the other, as in the story of the owner of the two gardens in Surat Al-Kahf, where the man denied the coming of the Hour and was described as a disbeliever at one time and a polytheist at another. Shirk and kufr may be used interchangeably to mean disbelief in Allah Almighty, or they may be distinguished, with shirk specifically referring to the worship of other than Allah while acknowledging Him, thus making kufr more general. Shirk is the establishment of deities alongside Allah, and ta'til falls under the category of shirk. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: "There are two types of shirk: the first relates to the essence of the worshipped, His names, and His attributes; the other is in His worship." The first type of shirk has two subtypes: shirk al-ta'til, which is the most heinous type of shirk, such as the ta'til of Pharaoh. Every polytheist is a mu'attil (one who practices ta'til), and every mu'attil is a polytheist. The origin and foundation of shirk is ta'til, which is of three categories: ta'til of the created from its Creator, ta'til of the Creator from His perfection by denying His names, attributes, and actions, and ta'til of His dealings from what is incumbent upon the servant regarding the reality of tawhid (definition) (monotheism).