Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Sept. 4, 2024.
Erin Schaaf | The New York Times | via Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday proposed a 28% long-term capital gains tax on households earning $1 million or more annually, down from the 39.6% rate President Joe Biden has laid out in his policy. Fiscal Year 2025 Budget.
“We will tax capital gains at a rate that rewards investment in American innovators, founders and small businesses,” the Democratic presidential candidate said at a rally in North Hampton, New Hampshire. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Harris’ capital gains tax plan.
The current top tax rate on long-term capital gains or assets held for more than one year is 20%.
Harris’ statement marked a rare disagreement with Biden’s economic platform.
So far, the newly elected Democratic presidential candidate’s economic proposals have been largely consistent with those of his current boss.
Harris has adopted much of the president’s aggressive rhetoric toward big corporations and has previously supported tax increases in his proposed budget as a way to pay for her spending plans.
But some parts of the corporate pressure campaign have met resistance, including from within the Democratic Party.
“I don’t think a blanket tax on unrealized gains is a good thing,” California Rep. Ro Khanna told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.
Khanna’s comments referred to taxing potential gains accumulated before assets are sold, which Biden supports. Harris has not announced any plans to deviate from Biden’s proposal, which would tax households worth at least $100 million on unrealized gains.
Khanna cited the unintended consequences that new entrepreneurs can suffer that can inhibit business growth.
Over the past few weeks, Harris has worked hard to position herself as a business-friendly face, as well as a warrior against corporate greed and a defender of the middle class.
As Harris delivered her economic speech, her Republican opponent, former President Trump, criticized her record and portrayed himself as the best candidate for the U.S. economy.
“Trump’s cash and Kamala’s collapse. If she joins, we’re going to have a collapse like 1929. It’s not going to be good,” Trump said in the video released. truth society Harris at a rally in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
To counter those attacks, Harris has been proposing more plans specifically aimed at helping businesses, especially ahead of the Sept. 10 debate on Trump hosted by ABC News.
On Wednesday, Harris also announced a new proposal to provide a $50,000 tax break for small business startup costs, ten times the current level.
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