Taxing Others in the Age of Trump: Foreigners (and the Politically Weak) As Tax Subject

Abstract

Critical tax theory identifies systemic imbalances in taxation that impose disproportionally high tax burdens on groups who lack or fail to exercise political power. This article focuses on foreigners as an ideal taxpaying group because it does not vote. The article identifies some ways in which the Trump administration might seize the opportunity of that political weakness to capture tax revenue from that group without compromising an otherwise anti-tax agenda.

Keywords: immigrants, taxation, international taxation, tariffs

JEL Classification: H22, H24, H25, H30, H41, H55, H87, K34, K37