Trump says he’ll eliminate income taxes. There’s a problem with that
(CNN) President Donald Trump on Sunday night reiterated an extraordinary ambition he and members of his administration have voiced from time to time throughout his young second term: One day, Americans won’t pay any more income tax, and you’ll have Trump’s tariffs to thank for it.
“We’re going to make a lot of money, and we’re going to cut taxes for the people of this country,” Trump said before boarding Air Force One for his return from Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome. “It’ll take a little while before we do that, but we’re going to be cutting taxes, and it’s possible we’ll do a complete tax cut, because I think the tariffs will be enough to cut all of the income tax.”
No one likes paying income taxes. But any plan to replace them with tariffs as a source of government revenue would be riddled with problems.