Trump’s vow to scrap federal income tax and replace it with tariff revenue taps into a deep, emotional vein of frustration with the tax system. For millions of Americans, the idea of never filing another return feels like revenge on a bureaucracy they believe has squeezed them for decades.

Trump frames it as a patriotic reversal: stop “taxing our citizens,” start taxing foreign goods, and let imports carry the burden of government instead of workers and families.

But the arithmetic is unforgiving. Income taxes currently provide more than half of federal revenue; tariffs bring in only a sliver. To close that gap through duties alone would demand either impossibly high tariffs or an explosion in imports that defies basic economics. Higher tariffs usually mean fewer imports, trade wars, and rising prices at home. For now, Trump’s vision remains a powerful slogan colliding with a stubborn, immovable ledger.