Following the ratification of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, the permanent U.S. federal income tax has been around since 1913.
But those days could soon be over, according to a new plan touted by President Donald Trump.
While speaking during a White House cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump told members of the press that Americans may “not even have income tax to pay” in the near future.
According to Trump’s plan, income tax would be replaced with tariff-driven revenue, opening the door for the elimination of the federal income tax.
Trump told the press during yesterday’s cabinet meeting that “at some point in the not too distant future you won’t even have income tax to pay,” arguing that revenue the government is collecting under his administration is now “so great… so enormous.”
“Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won’t be paying income tax,” Trump added.
While ambitious, abolishing income tax would mark the biggest overhaul of the American tax system in more than a century.
Trump’s repeated public support for replacing income tax with tariffs makes this the most explicit endorsement yet.
Last January, Trump floated a tax plan eliminating income tax for individuals earning under $150,000, with tariffs proposed as a replacement.
“It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the time.
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.”
Trump’s plan to axe income tax was also a staple of his 2024 presidential campaign.
When asked if he was serious about eliminating personal income taxes by podcaster Joe Rogan, then-candidate Trump responded, “Yeah, sure, why not?” and said tariffs could fund the government instead of wage taxes.
Trump’s proposal would require major tax-code changes and likely face legislative hurdles with a narrow House majority.
Abolishing the income tax has long been a fringe idea, but this is the time the concept has moved closer to a potential reality with Trump’s proposition for a viable replacement.
This also marks a stark shift in Trump’s stance on income tax.
As part of his prospective run for president in 1999 under the Reform Party, Trump considered a one-time “net worth” tax on those with wealth over $10 million.
The potential abolishment of the income tax comes on the heels of additional, sweeping financial plans touted by the Trump administration.
Trump has continually floated the idea of giving Americans up to $2,000 in rebates stemming from the revenues his tariff agenda has generated, noting that rebates could be distributed by mid-2026.
And yesterday, the much-anticipated “Trump accounts”, a major call for every American child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, to receive $1,000 from the federal government to build for their future, got $6 billion in private funding from computer and tech mogul Michael Dell and his wife, Susan.