Joseph Thorndike, “Everybody’s Tax: The Misguided Drive to Hollow Out the Income Tax” (Tax Notes, March 17, 2026):
Democrats are competing to exempt Americans from the income tax. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., wants to eliminate federal income taxes for workers earning up to $46,000 individually or $92,000 for married couples filing jointly, according to news reports. Sen. Cory A. Booker, D-N.J., has unveiled a Keep Your Pay Act that would more than double the standard deduction while expanding child and earned income tax credits.
Both plans come from potential 2028 presidential candidates. Both are framed as standing up for working people. And both would dramatically increase the number of Americans who owe nothing in federal income tax.
The senators aren’t wrong: Many working people are struggling. But combined with President Trump’s “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime,” a pattern is emerging. Both parties increasingly treat the income tax as a threat to be avoided rather than an obligation to share.
Trump’s proposals are narrower and more arbitrary, case studies in horizontal inequity. The Democratic plans are more sweeping, exempting entire income classes. But all of them move in the same direction: toward an income tax paid by fewer and fewer Americans.
It’s a bad idea.
