US President Donald Trump hints at eliminating the income tax and replacing it with tariffs.

US President Donald Trump proposes removing the income tax, calling for a return to a system that he believes will increase the country’s riches and strength.

United States President Donald Trump has once again proposed eliminating the income tax for Americans, claiming that it is “time for the US to return to a system that made us richer and more powerful.” He also stated that the US should enrich itself by “tariffing and taxing foreign nationals”.

Donald Trump presented his plan during the 2025 Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Florida, on January 27, 2025. According to AFP, the three-day brainstorming conference was anticipated to outline Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda

“America is going to become very rich again, and it will happen very quickly. “It is time for the United States to return to the system that has made us wealthier and more powerful than ever before,” Trump stated.

He said that the United States had no income tax prior to 1913, and that the tariff system was what made America wealthy in the past and provided previous presidents with the capital to do good for the country.

“You know the United States from 1870 to 1913 — all tariffs — and that was the richest time in the country’s history, relatively speaking. And they formed a blue ribbon committee, the Great Tariff Commission of 1887, whose sole purpose was to decide what to do with all of the money that was collected,” he alleged.

“It was so big that they didn’t know what to do with all of the money we had. Again, Teddy Roosevelt benefited. He received a significant sum of money from tariffs for his efforts in national parks and other projects. We had no income tax; it was introduced in 1913,” he added.

‘Tax Foreign Nationals to Enrich Our Citizens

As I stated in my address last week, instead of taxing our citizens to benefit foreign nations, we should tariff and tax foreign nations to benefit our own. Does this make sense? Right?” He asked the clapping audience.

So, will the US remove income tax and replace it with tariffs? 

Trump has often expressed support for the move, including during his campaign for President last year.

Tariffs are often calculated as a proportion of the price a buyer pays to a foreign vendor. Customs and Border Protection agents collect duties at 328 ports of entry around the United States, according to the Associated Press. It also stated that orthodox economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, viewing them as an ineffective tool for governments to earn revenue and increase prosperity.