As April 15 approaches, many US citizens feel great anxiety: Tax Day is almost upon us. Every year, ordinary people must navigate the American tax system. This year, Trump plans to use tax filings to identify undocumented immigrants. That means undocumented immigrants must either give up their information to Trump’s IRS or refuse to file their taxes and risk substantial penalties, including deportation. Most people with a W2 end up paying high fees to have their taxes prepped and sent electronically by private companies like TurboTax and H & R Block, because doing it yourself is so complicated. These corporations lobby Congress to keep the tax code overly complicated and prevent the formation of a free, public service to prepare our taxes. It is also worth noting that the United States is the only developed nation that requires citizens to file taxes annually, while other countries’ taxes are filed automatically.

While an overly-stressed working class struggles to make sense of the American tax process, a minority of billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk never deal with such ire. New tax laws are written every year, full of tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. When major corporations like Amazon and Tesla skip out on their annual taxes, the burden is put on ordinary citizens to fund our schools, repair our roads, and keep our water clean. Amazon, the first private company to ever reach a net worth of over 2 trillion dollars, avoided paying $5 billion in taxes in 2022. On the other hand, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in income tax that same year, despite being ineligible for Social Security and other benefits. Remember that Trump has gone to great lengths to hide his tax records from public view, lest we gather any more evidence of his shady business dealings.

We cannot forget that the wealth of companies like Amazon and Tesla was built on the labor of their workers who literally break their bodies to meet the demands of service that made Amazon and Tesla such titans of industry. How do Bezos and Musk reward such hard work? With safe working conditions, generous benefits packages, and thriving wages? No. Bezos and Musk undermine the efforts of their workforces to fight for better wages and protections at every turn. When Amazon workers began a union drive at multiple facilities demanding on-site safety and higher pay, Amazon executives pulled out all the stops to derail them, from fake ballot boxes to police intimidation. When Tesla workers at a plant in Buffalo, NY began a union drive, they were banned from using their cell phones at work. Not only do billionaires like Bezos and Musk skip out on taxes, they abuse and exploit the workers who made them rich in the first place.

Workers should not foot the bill for the essential services our society needs while mega-billionaires hoard their wealth. Billionaires will not part with their wealth out of the goodness of their hearts. We deserve a thriving society, with exceptional health care, flourishing schools, and gorgeous public parks. Scrap the tax burden for workers—tax the rich to fund education, social services, and the things we need to survive!