Professional athletes across the United States notoriously face hefty federal income tax bills that come with their lucrative contracts, paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes than most Americans as they move into higher tax brackets. However, a tax plan recently introduced by newly elected President Donald Trump would likely alleviate that financial burden for these highly paid athletes.
During a speech at a House Republican Members Conference on Monday, Trump proposed eliminating income taxes nationwide and replacing them with an import tariff system to fund the government.
Trump described the import tariff system as a “system that made us richer,” pointing to the period from 1870 to 1913 as the most prosperous in U.S. history under such a model.
“It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before… Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens,” Trump said in his speech as he laid out his vision for tax reform.
This proposal formalizes the plan Trump initially mentioned during his inauguration address.
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources,” Trump stated in his inaugural address earlier this month.
It remains unclear how Trump plans to implement this sweeping change or whether it will gain approval from other branches of government. However, what is evident is his commitment to fulfilling his campaign promise of moving toward the elimination of income taxes.
Needless to say, this some pretty insane news considering how much it would change the tax structure in the United States, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“The last time we decided that no income tax and tariffs were the way for the government to make money you ask? At the beginning of the Great Depression (which was a major factor in making it worse). These aren’t new ideas, this is America not learning from its past mistakes,” one person wrote on X.
“History class is so important. I remember learning in school that this failed BIG TIME. It hurt the working class, made basic necessities unaffordable, caused retaliation tariffs from other countries… I mean the list goes on. What happened shortly after? The Great Depression,” someone else added.
“That doesn’t make sense,” someone else added simply.
“He is trying to bankrupt our country,” another person said.
“We live in the dumbest country in the world,” someone else added.
“The federal government spends ~$6 trillion annually right now. Total American imports last year were $3.8 trillion. Go ahead, find a tariff rate that works. Good luck,” another person pointed out.
“So clearly helping the billionaires to not pay their fair share,” someone else said.
“Seriously, who believes any of this nonsense?” another person added.
This shift would mark a significant transformation, carrying profound implications not only for high-earning professional athletes but for all Americans.
