Kamala Harris And Her Tax Proposals: A Primer
Vice President Kamala Harris may be the 2024 Democratic Party nominee following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek a second term and earning his endorsement. Should Harris ascend to the top of the ticket, her legislative record as a senator may shed light on her future approach to tax policy.
As a senator, Harris’s signature tax proposal was the LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) the Middle Class Act. The LIFT Act would have provided low-income workers with a new refundable tax credit in addition to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). The credit would have matched earnings dollar-for-dollar for the first $3,000 for single people and $6,000 for married couples.
In 2018, TPC estimated that the LIFT Act would have delivered most of its benefits to households in the lowest and second quintile of income earners. But, unlike the EITC and CTC, the LIFT Act would have delivered sizable benefits to workers without children. A large share of its benefits would go to adults ages 18 to 24.
Harris also introduced legislation in 2018 to provide housing assistance to lower-income families. The plan called for a refundable tax credit paid directly to renters, but the legislation did not specify how the IRS would administer the rent credits.
During her 2020 Democratic primary campaign, Harris had a roster of tax proposals, including taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, imposing a financial transactions tax, strengthening the estate tax, and providing tax credits to businesses in rural areas and companies developing renewable energy sources.
And she would likely draw on tax ideas in the proposed budgets and legislative achievements of the Biden-Harris administration, including the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
But her record as a Senator and presidential candidate provides clues about how she might navigate tax issues in 2025 and beyond.
