Tariffs or Taxes?

[Abiky]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

[Furball808]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that?

It will be beneficial to employees obviously because their salary wouldn’t lessen by taxes anymore. It’s not really a personal preference but rather question of capability. Can a country really live off import tariffs without collapsing their economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

If a country in this scenario the US decides to live off only tariffs, it will hurt other countries and may hurt them back in the process. But if Trump says that tariffs would be enough it only means it will be difficult for other countries to export products to the US.

[Alpha Marine]

I will suggest that both should be retained, but they should be moderate.
If you abolish income taxes and increase tariffs, that is another way of creating inflation. Due to the high tariff rates, the cost of the imported goods will be very high, and for a country like mine that imports so much, the prices of everything will be affected.
Also, we know what happens in the market when it perceives that buyers have more money to spend. When the people in the economy no longer have to pay income taxes, this means they have more money to spend, and that will mean the prices of goods will increase in accordance with their spending. Now we would have an inflation that eats out the money that is supposed to be paid as taxes.

There is also the fact that the government will lose more if they abolish income taxes and increases tariffs. Trump saying "that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary" is just another thing Trump says without actually knowing the meaning.
Even with increased tariffs, the income taxes in the US generate so much more revenue than the tariffs. Taking out the income taxes completely will be a huge loss for the government.

If you had taxes and no tariffs, it means taxes will be increased a bit to cover the loss of tariffs and imposing more taxes on income is not a way to build a progressive economy. The people might not even have enough money to buy the imported goods any longer

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain.

This is not true. Income taxes and tariffs have always been a thing. They have always existed together. As long as the income taxes and tariffs paid are moderate, everything will be fine. A 10% to 15% tariff on most household products is not a bad thing, but when you begin to place a 30-60% tariff on those products, then we may have a problem.
The same with income taxes. There should be a reasonable rate for different tax brackets. It should be in a way that even after taxes, they still have enough money for themselves, and they can save and invest because this is what grows the economy, not the taxes. Also, the taxes taken should be properly used.
If all is done right, taxes and tariffs won't cause any problems.

[viljy]

International trade is not necessary for the existence of a self-sufficient state. Now there is still the inertia of thinking that it is absolutely necessary to participate in international trade. Or here's another false thesis - it's better to sell something at a loss than to leave the market (lose market share). All these are false theses, deliberately inspired by the neocolonialists. I still don't understand why Russia sells uranium to the United States. Russia doesn't need the money from this sale at all (against the general background of income, it's pennies), but uranium is irreplaceable.

In the case of the United States, which exists by "exporting" dollars, of course, it is quite realistic that import duties can replace income taxes as a source of money to the country's budget. However, what happens if the economic colonies of the United States someday realize that it is not necessary to sell at least something in order to buy something unnecessary. After all, most countries may well exist in a closed economic loop, as they have existed that way for centuries. If world trade is reduced to the necessary minimum, then the United States will no longer be able to live due to duties, and then the country will have to work, and not live due to the fact that others work.

[tottong]

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

It seems like eliminating the income tax wouldn't have any impact, because in my country, income tax isn't the only major contributor to country revenue.
In fact it could benefit salaried individuals because they wouldn't have to pay taxes. Whether this would benefit the economy depends. In smaller aspects, it should benefit the wider community, but the government would lose a certain percentage of revenue from these taxes.

If this were to happen, the government would need to find other sources of revenue to cover the shortfall, so it wouldn't have an impact on national income, even if the amount were not as significant as other taxes.

[demonica]

If you remove income tax and just live off tariffs, we could think that it will be beneficial to end users as they' won't have to pay income taxes. However, businesses will just increase their prices to get back what they've paid for the tariff. At the end of it, it will still the the end customers who will suffer from all the inflation and the increases of goods.

Now if you retain income tax and remove tariff instead, it could also affect the economy cause tariffs are imposed to protect domestic industry. Majority would rely on imported goods and it'll significantly affect the local industries. Local businesses will struggle to compete with foreign businesses and could lead to job losses.

So for me, the best thing the government could do is to just maintain the balance for both income tax and the tariff

[Findingnemo]

Cutting down the income tax and increasing the tariffs to the importers is not going to make a big change to the end users because at the end of the day all those taxes are going to be paid by the users who consume those products and if their government thinks that it will boost the local product consumption then what is their plan to generate revenue? Increase taxes in other forms like increase thew taxes on fuel, increase the taxes on electricity, increase property tax?

[fruktik]

Trump promises and talks a lot, but when it comes to practical action, he immediately avoids real action. He loves to talk, throwing shit at the fan. A populist and nothing more. He can't be trusted. It seems he has problems with mental thinking. He perceives the world around him in a strange way. At any moment, he can declare that he is reversing all his previous decisions. He can do that.

[whiteblue]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Maintain both, but don't over-emphasize the applicable tariffs and taxes levied on the public. As we know, the higher the taxes collected, the dwindling the community's cash flow. Their economy won't circulate effectively due to the high tax burden. Money circulating in the financial system, not within the community, is bad, and society can quickly become impoverished.

The government should be able to reduce unnecessary spending or reduce excessive spending in other sectors. This can help reduce state expenditure. This spending must be aligned with their original income from business or partnerships, for example. Relying solely on tariffs will inevitably suffer, and businesses will seek other opportunities to trade and produce. Domestic companies, too, will likely relocate.

[tabas]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

There has to be a case study that tariffs would be sufficient to sustain the government's funding for all of its operation. It will be a huge help for the people if income taxes and any other taxes will be gone and they'll have to shift with that. But the result of it will be increased prices of goods and services that a normal citizen that we consume. And if the government abolishes tariffs and will just leave the income taxes, I think that this is more favorable to the people if it's going to give some benefits and will go back to everyone through various services. Well, this is the job of the economists in the government and they have to weigh on things and which will be beneficial to their people.

[joniboini]

If it's based on where I live, I don't think they can cut off income taxes or taxes in general simply because they're a major contributor to our country's revenue. I doubt they have a high tariff too, even imported goods need to be cheap enough, otherwise people won't spend money on them because of the currency value difference. I can't see them changing this anytime soon. In an ideal world, I also think both are fine as long as the numbers aren't crazy, plus we can see tangible benefits like better public facilities, faster government response time, etc.

[Fortify]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

It sounds like a dumb idea to reinvent the wheel and waste a whole lot of money rearranging everything for no benefit. Almost like something who is terrible in business would do, like Donald Trump. What's actually happening is American's are being taxed twice at the moment, regardless of what the orange man says, the reality is plainly obvious that these tariffs get passed right back to the consumer - nobody wins except the Republicans are creating a warchest of money to waste on whatever trivial projects or corruption they like. Nobody except congress is allowed to raise or change taxes, so this is just a manipulative workaround because Trump does not follow the laws of the USA like he should.

[o48o]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Tariffs don't work like taxes even if that's sometimes called as a tax. They are just called taxes because they cause people to pay more for products. But that money goes directly to retailers and not towards infra like with actual taxes. So as an answer to your question, obviously tariffs are not an alternative to taxes.

Why would you even believe something Dementia Don says, when he is notorious con man and only to enrich his buddies and himself. He doesn't understand basics of governing or economy.

[NeuroticFish]

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both.

Now we do have both - in most of the countries - and even worse: there's income tax, there's VAT, there are taxes on houses and cars, there's extra tax in the fuel price, alcohol's, tobacco's, and yeah, there's also tariffs for the goods from many countries (in my case I think that pretty much everything that's from outside EU has a tariff on it).

Yes, I would like to see the day our governments tax us only once. But I don't expect it'll ever happen.


PS. Tariffs are even a different kind of stealing our money, not necessarily in the same category as tax.

[SmartGold01]

None should be removed or abolished but what I would suggest is that they could be reduced instead of being so much where it could start affecting Importations.. same goes to the income taxe. Just for example; the Fed government important new law in our country this January to increase income taxes, that is to say that whatever amount that goes into your account are being taxed on percentage depending on that amount in flow.
Exemption from below 10k of our local currency, although I don't know effective this could be as we waits for more and further clarification.

[Synchronice]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

It might depend on the country, I don't know but I don't think that country like Germany with its current system will survive without income tax. If you have a normal salary, you basically pay half of your money in taxes but in return, the whole society has pension, free health insurance, free education and if you lose a job, you get money for a long time to support yourself. Does it worth the 40% tax? I don't know because I prefer more individualism and less depend on government aid if I am able to pay less taxes and receive more money in the end.

By the way, what if the country doesn't import too much and mostly produces locally? Then living on tariffs is not very beneficial. What I advocate is that there should not be more taxes besides a slight import taxes and income taxes. At the moment, when we go to the supermarket, products in the stores are taxes, the salary of their employees are taxes, my income is taxes, the store itself pays taxes on their income and so on. It basically means that we are getting taxes 5 times and more, which is not fair.

[Fiatless]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Increasing tariffs will harm local industries, mainly those that depend on imported raw materials. It could also be good for local industries that don't depend on imported raw materials. So it could create and also reduce employment opportunities.

Income tax is an important source of income for the government. Replacing such revenue with high import tax might not be ideal. The economy of the US experienced some challenges during the trade war because the country depends on imports from many countries.

The right step is to put in place a mechanism that will balance policies on income tax and tariffs. Overusing any of these sources of revenue could backfire on the economy.

[RockBell]

Trump promises and talks a lot, but when it comes to practical action, he immediately avoids real action. He loves to talk, throwing shit at the fan. A populist and nothing more. He can't be trusted. It seems he has problems with mental thinking. He perceives the world around him in a strange way. At any moment, he can declare that he is reversing all his previous decisions. He can do that.

If you should follow Trump you will laugh because most of is action are totally different from most of his promises and if you should look at it from the beginning Trump is a business man and not a a politicians and that is  most of his concerns are economically related and that's is why is always concerned about tariff and tax and most especially immigrants and he has his good side but most times his decisions are not favourable at all even at the expense of the criticism but Trump is just who he is and he is a very hard guy to convince and because most of his policies are extremely harsh but nothing we can do about this.

[yixichloro2xx]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Their two  depends on how they are going to affect daily lifes. Relying on Tariffs only can make goods that are being imported into the country costly, this will will result in high prices of things like food, medicine etc people are going to feel it alot. Then depending on income tax only comes with limits because it will put more unnecessary pressures on workers. governments often mixed both  together coz each one helps cover the weakness of the other.

[davis196]

Let's say that your government decides to cut off (or abolish) the income tax, and decides to live off import tariffs. Would you be okay with that? In the US, President Donald Trump promised that the income collected from tariffs would be enough so that income taxes would no longer be necessary. It could or could not work. Now, let's say the inverse happens where the government abolishes all tariffs (zero tariffs) and decides to leave income taxes in place. Would it benefit the economy?

Either we have tariffs or taxes, but we can't have both. If we had both (especially high tariffs + taxes), the economy would quickly go all the way down the drain. At least, that's my point of view. But I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Having zero taxes and high tariffs is a stupid economic model. What if the foreign countries decide to reduce their export and the revenue from import tariffs drops severely? Free trade(zero tariffs) benefits all countries around the world. Protectionism(high tariffs) can benefit only certain countries and certain industries. Trump's promises about the economy were pretty stupid, but the rednecks voted for him because of the promises of lower inflation and bringing the manufacturing jobs back to the USA. Having high tariffs leads to higher inflation and the idea of re-industrialization via protectionism is about to fail miserably.