US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday released her proposals and plans to tackle a worrying issue for the American people: the economy. With sporadic threats of recessions resurfacing from time to time, Americans continue to deal with high taxes and increased prices of basic goods and services that soared during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not abated since.
Harris’s economic proposals promise to achieve a lot. The Democratic presidential nominee has proposed tax cuts for the middle and lower class, and her plans to boost the economy include tax incentives and changes. Notably, some of her proposals are a continuation of President Joe Biden’s unfinished plans, but they have been extensively modified.
Here is what the US Vice President has proposed:
tax the rich
It seems that taxing the rich is more than just a catchy slogan for Harris. She has proposed a new minimum tax of 25% on people with more than $100 million in assets, including unrealized capital gains. In addition, if people earning more than $1 million a year decide to sell an asset — say, stocks — Harris plans to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate they pay after selling that asset from 20% to 28%.
They have also decided to adopt President Biden’s plan that would not raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000 a year.
Taxing businesses
In 2017, former President Donald Trump, who was running the White House at the time, passed a tax law that cut company taxes from 35% to 21%. Harris is proposing to raise that rate to 28%. Budget experts have estimated that raising the rate to 28% would help the federal government raise $1 trillion over a decade. Plus, the tax rate is bound to cut into company profits.
child tax credit
This is the system in the US that allows families with newborns to apply for a tax credit of $2,000 per child.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden increased the credit from $2000 to $3600 for one year. The credit rate is expected to drop further to $1000 in 2025. Harris has decided to make the increase approved by Biden during the pandemic permanent. In addition, she has promised a one-time $6000 credit bonus to families with a newborn.
Trump’s fellow candidate J.D. Vance has proposed raising the child tax credit to $5,000, but Trump’s team does not appear to have taken up the proposal.
affordable housing
Another important issue in America. Lack of housing for common people. Rents are constantly increasing and people are finding it difficult to meet their expenses. According to Reuters, in the last five years, house prices have increased by 50% and rents by 35%.
Harris plans to rely on tax incentives to alleviate the problem and has set a goal of increasing housing construction by 3 million units over the next four years.
He has proposed tax credits for first-time homebuyers and builders of affordable rental units. Additionally, he has proposed a $25,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers to help with down payments for the next four years. He has also proposed a $40 billion ‘innovation fund’ that local governments can use to build more affordable housing.
tax cuts for small businesses
Unlike the tax cut the former president gave large corporations, Harris is proposing a deduction of up to $50,000 for the start-up costs of new small businesses. Reuters reported that the current tax cut maxes out at $5,000, which is just a sliver of the average cost of $40,000 needed to start a business.
high prices of groceries
It is well known in the US that corporations continue to hike the prices of groceries, yet nothing has been done about it. Harris has pledged to impose the first-ever ban on imposing excessive price hikes on food and groceries.