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Over 50% of Americans believe that the federal income tax is unfair. Many believe that the income tax should be eliminated in favor of tariffs.
But who really benefits from the elimination of income taxes?
The answer is simple: the wealthiest tax payers benefit the most from the elimination of income taxes. In 2023, the top 50% of wage earners paid over 97% of the federal income taxes. How many of you qualify to be in the top 50% of wage earners?
The reason for this discrepancy is that the federal income tax system is a progressive tax system. The more you earn, the greater the percentage of income taxes you pay. Tariffs are nothing more than a national sales tax that added to all goods imported into the USA.
Make no mistake, the cost of tariffs will be passed on to the consumer as an increase in item cost. Anyone who believes otherwise doesn’t understand consumer pricing. Although the upper and even middle classes will be able to accept these increased costs with a grimace, it will create a real burden for the poorest people — many of whom currently pay little or no income taxes.
Historically, income taxes make up about 50% of the federal budget; tariffs less than 2%. Total revenue to the federal government in 2024 was $4.9 trillion of which individual income taxes made up 54%. Total imports into the USA in 2024 were $4.1 trillion. In order to replace the income tax portion of revenues with tariffs would require an average tariff of almost 65% on all imports. Imagine paying 65% more for your Walmart or supermarket purchases.
Can you afford a 65% increase in your daily costs?
Additionally, replacing the income tax system does not address the growing federal deficit. The federal government spent $6.8 trillion dollars in 2024. Major categories of expenses were: Social Security 21%, Medicare/Medicaid 22%, National Defense 13%, Debt Interest 13%.
Cuts to federal spending can reduce the deficit but not be enough to eliminate income taxes.
Let’s not enrich the wealthy further by reducing their tax burden while increasing the essential costs to those unable to bear the burden.
David Bader
Norwood