Trump floats eliminating U.S. income tax and replacing it with tariffs on imports

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 361 points –
Trump floats eliminating U.S. income tax and replacing it with tariffs on imports
cnbc.com
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This is absolutely going to get him votes. If he does it, is another thing entirely.

There are between 8 to 10 million Americans that don't live in the US. Every penny they make is taxed to Uncle Sam even if they don't step foot in the country their entire life.

It is universally hated. And the only other country stupid enough to do this is Eritrea.

You know how you get 8 million votes? Drop income tax. That doesn't even count all the red state domestic Americans who also don't want taxes (but don't understand tarrifs and therefore local pricing).

If he campaigns on this, versus just saying it one time, he will absolutely 100% win.

This is not true. Most countries have a taxation agreement with the US which excludes a significant portion of income and/or taxes paid from US income. You do still pay taxes to the US on foreign income, but not on every penny.

Every penny they make is taxed to Uncle Sam

There is no where near a 100% income tax rate LMFAO. Obviously nonsense claims do not make a good argument.

If he campaigns on this,

MAKE INFLATION GREAT AGAIN

I think they mean they tax based on their total income not they collect the entire income

Canada does the same thing for people abroad

Marginal tax rates are based on adjusted gross income, type of income, and amount of income. Common adjustments include tax credits, tax free income adjustments, and deductions.

All of those still take into account your total income

Even if he meant that his hyperbole is still wrong. Every penny is not taken into account since all amounts are rounding to the nearest dollar.

No they don't. The standard exemption for fiscal year 2024 is $14,600 for every single filer, regardless of total income. The first $14,600 is literally not taxed.

There's also many credits that do not take income into account at all.

Brackets are how your total income is broken up. Your total income is still relevant so they know when to stop taxing

That's a very different statement than "every penny you make is taxed".

A tax at 0% is still a tax, I feel people are purposively missing the point rather than debate them

It's literally exempt from taxation, that's why they call it an exemption.

Idk about you but I get it back through tax returns which would suggest it’s not exempt, just 0%

For comparison; Churches are exempt and don’t pay tax then get it refunded

That's...not how that works

I'm an IRS certified tax preparer, please trust me that you've got it wrong. There are brackets, but they are (mostly) only applied after all the exemptions, credits and deductions. That's why you hear about things like "gross income", "adjusted gross income", and "modified adjusted gross income".

The lowest tax bracket is 10%. That bracket is only applied on income from $0 to $11,600. If you make only $12,000 that year, then before that tax bracket is applied, all of your income is already exempted. It's similar to a tax bracket, but it's not, because exemptions are different for different filers. And reductions and credits further complicate things. Your adjusted income is often very different than your gross income.

You are literally not required to file taxes if your income falls below this threshold. It would be dumb, because you'd probably get some money if you did file, but all of your income is exempt.

Practically speaking, there's not much difference between exempt income and a tax bracket of 0%, but the semantics of the statement "every penny is taxed" requires some clarification especially when there's a portion of your taxes literally called an "exemption".

This has gone on too long, you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about

You just seem like you got mad at them saying everything is taxed but had no way to address it so you resorted to nitpicking when it’s perfectly clear what they are saying

If you do have any clue about taxes then perhaps instead of ranting to me. You could argue to them about expats still paying taxes to the US based on their whole income rather than a portion of it

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It's somewhat accurate to say "every penny they make is taxABLE to Uncle Sam" which is different from saying 100% tax rate. Americans living outside the US still need to file a tax return and report all their income, and pay tax on it to the US, even if it is from a foreign source. That said they could claim the foreign tax credit if they paid tax to a foreign regime on that income already, or the foreign income exclusion under some circumstances which would reduce their taxable income to the US.

It’s somewhat accurate to say “every penny they make is taxABLE to Uncle Sam”

It's completely meaningless but hyperbolic to say that because that's the way taxes work in every country. No country randomly ignores random amounts of income from taxation. Also, there is the concept of tax exempt income and the fact that pennies and dollar fractions are completely ignored on tax forms.

Calm down professor. The US is one of the only countries in the world to tax worldwide income, even if they are a nonresident of the US. That is NOT how it works in every country.

Here's a pretty good article about it from the WSJ if you want to educate yourself on the subject: https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-34630

The US is one of the only countries in the world to tax worldwide income, even if they are a nonresident of the US.

We all know that and this is not what is being discussed genius.

That is NOT how it works in every country.

Taking into considering "every penny" of your income IS how it works in every country.

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He will do it, for the rich, not the poor.

Convicted Felon and Sex Offender Treason Trump gave rich people a gigantic tax cut and tax increases to the middle class. Next year every income group making 75k or less will pay MORE taxes thanks to him.

Will suck but honestly this is the least of our worries. Trump has openly said he will deport u.s. citizens and is arguing that he can assassinate people that disagree with him.

Cool. They vote too you know.

They vote too you know.

Yeah... with "donations."

18% of Americans earn more than $100k/yr. They do not lobby. They just vote. Income tax reduction disproportionately benefits about half the country, especially benefits a fifth of the country.

In a race where it's estimated 40k people will decide the entire outcome, getting 20% of the country on your side is good numbers.

In a race where it’s estimated 40k people will decide the entire outcome, getting 20% of the country on your side is good numbers.

Republicans have been saying shit about eliminating income taxes for years, or even flat out eliminating the IRS. I don't see this specific policy turning "millions"of voters like you say.

The best thing trump can do is get voters excited. Voter turnout is abysmal in this country. Whoever gets more people to actually show up to vote wins. Joe Biden was a shoe in before he hard-backed Israel and now it's a toss-up

The difference is that all GOP candidates previously knew, or had a cabinet that knew, it was a terrible awful thing to do for the country. It would NEVER pass. But it could be campaigned on. Just like repealing abortion... See how that worked?

The party of Trump is not the GOP of old. These are idiots that can and do actually get things done. Mostly because they do it all wrong and haphazardly. But it doesn't matter because the action takes effect immediately and the remedy takes years to work through a judicial system.

Too many American democrats don't understand they aren't even playing the same game. Bringing a spatula to a gun fight.

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I don't really understand your point.

What about the other n million Americans who pay income tax? They might find it appealing too.

The 10 million living outside the US would pay less american income tax than residents.

You have a dead heat match. A few votes matter. This is millions of extra votes.

Many Americans outside the country pay more than Americans inside the country as they tend to be more affluent so higher income tax bracket. Yet not UHNW so it's all capital gains.

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