Vice President Kamala Harris has officially deviated from one of President Joe Biden’s policy plans, announcing Wednesday a vastly different proposal for capital gains tax and other tax benefits.
While speaking to a crowd in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Harris shared that she will call for a lower long-term capital gains tax than initially proposed by Biden, as well as a vastly expanded $50,000 tax benefit for new small businesses.
“And while we ensure that the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, we will tax capital gains at a rate that rewards investment in America’s innovators, founders, and small businesses,” Harris said.
The vice president proposed a 28% long-term capital gains tax on people making $1 million a year or more.
Biden had previously called for a 39.6% tax rate on capital gains.
Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has not said where he stands on long-term capital gains tax, though he did support capping them at 20% in 2016.
Project 2025, which Trump maintains he has nothing to do with, calls for capital gains to be capped at 15%.
ABC News reported that Harris believes a more moderate approach with capital gains taxes will help balance her other policy positions, a source familiar with the plan told the outlet.
On Wednesday, Harris said she supported a minimum tax rate on billionaires and also supports raising the corporate tax rate and quadrupling taxes on stock buybacks, the outlet shared.
Another economic effort from Harris includes generating 25 million new small business applications if elected. Her tax plan would include a $50,000 benefit for those who venture into starting a small business. The terms of the proposal would also allow those eligible to delay the benefit if they are operating at a loss, ABC News reported.
Harris stressed that helping small businesses would be a priority for her administration, sharing on Wednesday that she would also seek to develop a standard deduction for small businesses to help them get their feet off the ground.
“We will have a particular focus on small businesses in rural communities, like right here in New Hampshire,” she said.