Ex-presidential candidate Andrew Yang says it’s time to ‘stop taxing labor’ and make AI foot the bill instead

Individual income taxes accounted for more than half of the total revenue collected by the U.S. government in 2025. At a total of $2.6 trillion, they make up the largest share of government revenue. But income tax hasn’t always played a key role in tax revenue. In fact, it wasn’t even introduced as a concept until about 100 years into the country’s history after President Abraham Lincoln signed the very first federal income tax—a 3% flat tax on incomes exceeding $800—to fund the Civil War. Just as income tax didn’t always exist...