Kamala Harris unveils her economic proposals ahead of US Presidential elections

US Vice President Kamala Harris released on Wednesday her proposals and plans to tackle an alarming issue for the American people: the economy. As sporadic threats of an incoming recession resurface from time to time, Americans continue to deal with high taxes, and increased prices of basic goods and services that went up during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not come down since.
Harris’ economic proposals promise to achieve a lot. The Democratic presidential candidate has proposed tax cuts for the middle and lower class, and her plans to boost the economy include tax incentives and shifts. Notably, some of her proposals are a continuation of President Joe Biden’s unfinished plans but tweaked to be larger in scope.
Here is what the US vice president proposes:
To Harris, it seems, taxing the rich is more than a catchy slogan. She has proposed a new 25% minimum tax on people with wealth exceeding $100 million, including on unrealized capital gains. Furthermore, if those earning more than $1 million annually decide to sell assets – let’s say stocks – Harris is planning to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate paid after selling that asset to 28% from 20%.
She has also decided to inherit President Biden’s plan to not raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000 a year.
In 2017, former president Donald Trump, who at the time was running the White House, 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 raise $1 trillion for the federal government over a decade. At the same time the tax rate is bound to cut into company profits.
This is the system in the US which allows families with newborns to apply for tax credits for $2000 per child.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden increased the credit from $2000 to $3600 for a year. The credit rate is further expected to drop to $1000 in 2025. Harris has decided to make permanent the increase that Biden approved during the pandemic. Furthermore, she has pledged a one-time $6000 credit bonus to families with a newborn.
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, has proposed to increase the child tax credit to $5000 but the proposal, it seems, has not been adopted by Trump’s team.
Another urgent issue in the US. Lack of housing that normal people can afford. Rents continue to soar and people struggle to keep up. According to Reuters, home prices have gone up by 50% in the last five years and rent by 35%.
Harris plans to rely on tax incentives to alleviate the issue and has set a goal to increase housing construction by 3 million units over the next four years.
She has proposed tax credits for builders of homes for first-time buyers and affordable rental units. Additionally, she proposed a $25,000 tax credit to help first-time buyers with down payments for the next four years. A $40 billion ‘innovation fund’ has also been proposed by her which local governments can utilise to build more affordable homes.
In stark contrast to the tax cuts the former president gave to large corporations, Harris is proposing cuts of upto $50,000 for start-up costs of new small businesses. Reuters reported that current tax cuts are a maximum of $5,000, a mere dent in the average cost of $40,000 needed to start a business.
That corporations have continued to hike grocery prices is a known fact in the US, yet nothing has been done about it so far. Harris has pledged to enact the first ever ban on imposing excessive price hikes on food and groceries.