TRUMP’S IDEA TO REPLACE INCOME TAXES WITH TARIFFS
Recently, Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy wrote an article edited by Molly Sullivan in GOBankingRates reporting an idea President Trump had floated. Trump proposed eliminating the income tax and replacing it with tariffs. You can read the article at:
https://www.gobankingrates.com/taxes/tax-laws/should-trump-eliminate-income-taxes-tax-experts-say/?utm_term=incontent_link_4&utm_campaign=1276851&utm_source=msn.com&utm_content=11&utm_medium=rss, July 5, 2024.
Congress Member Thomas Massie, KY-04, called the thought the “Most intriguing policy idea from the GOP meeting at the Capitol Hill Club this morning.”
However, the experts quickly pounced. Robert Persichitte, CPA, CFP, CFE, affiliate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, led the chorus, stating, “Let’s do some simple math under the assumption that we don’t need to fix the deficit: Income tax gives us $3.29 trillion in revenue. Our total imports are $3.8 trillion. Therefore, we would need nearly a 100% increase in tariffs without people switching to cheaper alternatives, which is not a realistic outcome. …
“Poorer Americans pay lower taxes, and in the case of many low-income seniors, they pay no taxes. Their income wouldn’t change, but their bills would double.”
The Peterson Institute for International Economics echoed Persichitte, noting that tariffs “would cost a typical household in the middle of the income distribution at least $1,700 in increased taxes each year.”
Erica York, senior economist and research director at The Tax Foundation, concurred. Bryan Riley, director of the National Taxpayers Union Free Trade Initiative, said this initiative wouldn't be possible.
The high required tax rate would be one of many problems. Karla Dennis, founder and CEO at Karla Dennis & Associates, said, "The predictability of revenue from tariffs would be volatile as imports are based on demand. … During COVID-19, we could not receive our normal imported goods — thus, it may not be a smart business decision to rely only on tariffs.”
For all these criticisms of tariffs as a replacement for the income tax, the experts left one problem out. When the United States imposes tariffs on foreign goods and services, other countries retaliate. Karla Dennis was one of the few experts who mentioned the resulting trade wars.
The Trump Administration’s tariffs on China worked because Chinese producers were willing to absorb the impact of Trump’s tariffs and keep the price of Chinese goods in the US market competitive. The Chinese government may have had a hand in that outcome by artificially depressing the value of its currency, the yuan. Moreover, the trade balance with China favors China, minimizing the retaliation problem. Therefore, China's example may hold up only sometimes with other countries.
The FAIRtax is a more efficient way of replacing income taxes. Its tax base is broader, allowing for a more reasonable rate. Moreover, the FAIRtax creates fewer distortions between domestically produced goods and services and their foreign counterparts. The FAIRtax still allows the United States to impose tariffs, especially when security concerns call for them.
The FAIRtax also accomplishes the tariff’s goals by taxing foreign-produced goods and services for the first time. Foreign-produced goods had a tax advantage over US-produced goods for years because their corporate tax rate was lower, and foreign consumption taxes were abated at the border. With the FAIRtax, the unfair advantage of foreign-produced goods disappears.
Maybe Trump's proposal is a step towards the FAIR tax. I would love to hear your comments about it.
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🇺🇸 We've Got You Covered, If You Let Us Know - If you are planning an event, we have event insurance coverage available for you. Email me the "who-what-where-when" and I will obtain for you a COI. Once the event is underway, it's too late.