Current U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for President, has unveiled a significant proposal for her future administration—raising the corporate tax rate to 28% to increase government revenue and help fund large-scale tax cuts for the poor and middle class.
During the Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 19, Eastern Time, Harris stated that if elected President, she would propose raising the current corporate tax rate to 28%. A spokesperson for Harris's campaign team, James Singer, said that the corporate tax policy Harris is advocating is "a fiscally responsible approach that puts money back into the pockets of working people and ensures that billionaires and large corporations pay their fair share."
If the 28% corporate tax rate is implemented, government revenue would increase by hundreds of billions of dollars. According to estimates by the nonpartisan federal government agency, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), every one percentage point increase in the corporate tax rate would increase U.S. government revenue by approximately $10 billion over ten years. The 28% corporate tax rate also implies that Harris would be rolling back some of the tax cuts enacted during Trump's presidency in 2017. During his tenure, Trump legislated a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
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Some media have pointed out that the 28% tax rate is lower than the 35% target Harris proposed during her unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020 and is consistent with Biden's recent budget proposal. Given that Republicans will certainly oppose a 28% corporate tax rate, Harris may need to ensure Democratic control of both the House and Senate in the future to get Congress to pass the relevant legislation.
Last week, Wall Street News mentioned that Harris unveiled the key points of her economic blueprint for her administration for the first time on Friday, proposing comprehensive subsidies and tax benefits for the poor and middle class, such as increasing the child tax credit to $3,000, a $6,000 newborn credit; providing a $25,000 down payment subsidy for first-time homebuyers; capping annual out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for all citizens at $2,000; building 3 million new homes and rental units affordable for the middle class; and for the first time, enacting a federal government ban on price gouging for food.
Harris is selling her so-called "opportunity economy" dream, stating that the economy she will create will allow "everyone to compete and have a real chance to succeed, with opportunities to create wealth for themselves and their children, no matter who they are or where they start." She said, "As President, I will wholeheartedly create opportunities for the middle class, making their economy safer, more stable, and more dignified." She promised to "make reducing costs and improving economic security for all Americans a top priority."
Harris also compared her economic plan with Trump's, saying that Trump's vow to impose tariffs on other countries is equivalent to "imposing a national sales tax on everyday goods and basic necessities," which will "destroy Americans." She mentioned that economists estimate Trump's plan would result in an additional annual expense of $3,900 for an average American family.
On Monday, Harris's campaign spokesperson Singer reiterated Harris's commitment to making the middle class economy safer, more stable, and more dignified, and once again mentioned Trump's "extreme 2025 plan," stating that the proposed 20% tariffs in Trump's plan would "increase the government deficit" and "raise the tax burden on the middle class."
A study released last Friday by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) showed that Harris's plan would lead to an increase in the U.S. deficit of $1.7 trillion over ten years. If the temporary housing policy is made permanent, this deficit could increase to $2 trillion. Harris's campaign team stated that the cost exceeding the 2025 fiscal year budget would be "offset by raising corporate and wealthy taxes."
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