where he comes up with his talking points. Obviously cutting the income tax would throw the country into a recession (at a minimum) and more than likely a depression with all the other stupid things he would to. Fortunately, that won't happen.

A good case can be made for replacement of income tax with a consumption tax. The tax would however be collected at the retail level rather than a tariff as Drump thinks it should.

Shifting more of the tax burden to the rest of us

given the opportunity. That does not however necessarily mean it would happen.

Anyhow, a consumption tax (intelligently implemented) would be far simpler to understand and administer than the current hodge-podge mess of the US income tax system (and many other countries as well).

People who have discretionary spending have the choice to save rather than consume, so in a recession government revenue would drop dramatically - just when the government needs to provide a safety net.

And it's far easier to implement a progressive income tax system than a progressive consumption tax system.

Gov't revenue drops in a recession as it is. It would be interesting to compare the two scenarios.

What country have you been living in?

Maybe that's my problem?

I'm not sure why people still think that Trump is going to abide by the rules, instead of changing them to suit his needs?

If the United States implemented a Value Added Taxes (VATs) for example, where every company would pay tax on the difference between their revenue and costs of goods and labor. Assuming the United States keeps the 15.3% FICA tax and doesn't exempt any categories of goods (such as food), the United States would need a 15% VAT to balance the books. The tax rate would need to be 24% to get rid of both the general income tax and FICA.

a VAT might serve the same purpose. I would suppose that one or the other but not both would be the most efficient.

Anything that gets rid of the current income tax system is likely to be a v big benefit. Legions of tax lawyers and accountants would raise hell at the prospect though.

A similar case BTW can also be made for elimination of corporate income tax.

Any kind of consumption tax would be incredibly regressive which of course would benefit the rich and kill the poor.

for an explanation of how it could work.

Then the billionaires will actually pay taxes. Let’s get er done.

Low income people would be taxed the most because a big fraction ( most) of their income goes into buying necessities like food and other goods.
When you are rich, it's a very small fraction of your income.

To that end, a sales tax could also be imposed on purchase of investment securities.

So, the rich would be avoiding taxes following that trend.

Inexpensive items would suffer inflation due to tariffs and/or lack of competition.

Relying on tariffs and getting rid of income tax will destroy this country!

In 30 days government revenue would be down 88%. So they'd double the tariff and it would be down 94%. Everyone would stop buying everything they could. Accountants and business payroll department would fire 95% of their staff. There would be nothing for them to do. Such a plan would roil the distribution system for everything. Parts, food, consumer goods.

Is there anything Donald Trump doesn't want to smear his feces on?

It's been talked about before.

IIRC, Robert Reich is in favour of it. Done properly it would have many advantages.

See, for instance, https://robertreich.org/post/11753807617 or

Link to tweet

Maybe $800/mo pops into your account and depending on your monthly consumption... might even not spend the 800 that month

Those who buy the most STUFF... will pay the most taxes.

The proposals also exempt stuff like food and medical

eg how property taxes are increased, and how the export of money (for consumption abroad) is handled. And for "average" consumption (say, cars), what rates have these proposals ended up with?

One big danger would be that the rich would put off some of their consumption (eg having a new house built) until they could get back in power and change the tax system.

The rich tend to control politicians so doing something that actively works AGAINST them is really hard for politicians.

In any case, a sales tax does not have to be regressive because various tax rates could be assigned to various types pf goods and services. Eg. basic foods or medical costs could be exempt. Luxury goods could be taxed at a higher rate. Deductibles could also be granted for things such as housing. A monthly allowance could be given to everyone which would cover increased purchasing costs for lower income folks. Etc. I suppose something similar could apply to VAT tax rates.

easy to predict the US Oligarchs would want Trump to end taxes. And a sure fire way to shore up the idiocracy voters who just don't/won't learn where services they rely on come from.

That he is willing to say anything and everything that he thinks will get one more vote. Nothing more, nothing less.

People do know that Congress has to approve just about everything a POTUS wants and pass legislation, right? That there is no means or mechanism for "declaring one's self dictator", right? And that the POTUS can't deport people? And that there are courts?

Trump proves once again he lacks even the most simplistic grasp of economics, trade, and history.

Harris talks about a new way forward, Trump promotes turning back the clock to the Gilded Age with its high tariffs.

Hallmarks of the Gilded Age include oppressively high tariffs, extremely high income inequality, corporate greed, political corruption and horrific working conditions for the masses.

RWers have been hating on it since it was put in the Constitution back in 1916.

That's a lot, lot less than I paid.

And other years, the short-fingered traitor grabbed millions in tax refunds.

That option did not sound familiar to my accountant.

target the lower wage earners

A pony for you and you and you and yooooooooo

Taking us back to the 1800’s in all ways

He’s such a dumshit


✌🏻

The states ratified the 16th Amendment because tariffs were even more hated than income taxes.

Let’s throw out a scenario: Donald sells nylon kitchen spoons that he buys from China for a quarter apiece, marks them up to 50 cents and retailers sell them for a dollar. He sells 10 million spoons a year. Trump decides to put a 100 percent tariff on these spoons at the point of import, so now he marks them up to 75 cents and retailers sell them for $1.25. The government receives $2.5 million in tariffs. But this Donald, unlike the idiot currently wanting to be president again, is smart enough to pick up his phone, call his buddy who owns a nylon molding shop, and asks if they can profitably sell him nylon spoons as good as the ones he gets from China for a quarter apiece. They can, so Donald floods the market with one-dollar American-made nylon spoons and the government no longer receives tariff revenue. Admittedly $2.5MM is basically three hammers and enough toilet paper to clean Trump’s ass after a six-Big-Mac bender but you get the idea: if Trump’s “make everything in the US” push comes to fruition tariffs simply won’t fund the government even if they shut down the entire military.

That worked so well the first time.