President Donald Trump is planning to implement a tax policy that would make it so that those earning less than $150,000 annually will not pay any income tax, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday.
"I know what his goal is — no tax for anybody making under $150,000 a year. That's what I'm working for," Lutnick told reporters, per Newsweek. Lutnick said that the tax plan is possible without causing the debt to increase at a massive rate and that the Trump administration can do so by taking on overseas tax fraud.
Trump's proposal would impact the vast majority of Americans, as most do not earn over $150,000 a year in income. In 2022, 93 percent of all Americans who were working over the age of 15 were not earning that much income, per data from the Census. However, the measure may decrease tax revenue by a significant amount.
Lutnick reiterated that the plan is the eventual goal of the Trump administration, and that other tax measures will include eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security payments, as well as decreasing the corporate tax rate. The Commerce Secretary said that the plan would be bringing in more tax revenue through tariffs as well as clamping down on overseas tax fraud and evasion. Lutnick said that many commercial ships claim to be under the control of other countries such as Liberia in order to avoid US tax rates. "All those ships are paying no tax, it's a tax scam."
He also turned his attention to Ireland, where some businesses hold their intellectual property rights because of more favorable tax law.
"Ireland has a $60 billion surplus... because our companies drop their IP there. They pay Ireland the money — tax scam," Lutnick said. "How about we end the tax scams." Lutnick also spoke about Trump's immigration "Golden Card," visas which will propose that if an immigrant pays $5 million to the US, they will automatically get those rights associated with a Green Card.
"The rest of the world leans on our economy, breathes off our economy - not only is our economy $29 trillion, but we consume $20 trillion a year. We are the buyer of everybody's stuff," Lutnick added. "So, we are the buyer of everybody's commodities, products, goods and services. Everything comes from us. Let them pay a membership fee. We all understand that model - let them pay."
