Kamala Harris departs from Biden capital gains tax plan to widen her reach

Harris’s proposal for a lower tax rate than the one laid out by Biden suggests she wants to appeal to a broader base of voters.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has proposed raising the capital gains tax rate for those earning $1m or more to 28 percent, instead of the 39.6 percent rate proposed by President Joe Biden in his fiscal 2025 budget.

On Wednesday, Vice President Harris also told cheering supporters at a brewery in North Hampton, New Hampshire, about 10 miles south of Portsmouth, that she would push for a $50,000 tax deduction for new small businesses, 10 times the current tax break.

“As president, one of my highest priorities will be to strengthen America’s small businesses,” Harris said, noting that small businesses employ half of all private sector workers in the United States.

Harris said lowering the cost of starting a new business – estimated at $40,000 on average – would help the US reach her “very ambitious” goal of having 25 million new small business applications filed by the end of her first term.

A record 5.5 million new business applications were filed in 2023, according to the Small Business Administration.

Harris’s proposal for a lower top tax rate on capital gains suggests she wants to appeal to a broader base of voters even as she sticks with most of Biden’s plans to strengthen the middle class. Harris became the Democratic nominee after Biden stepped aside on July 21.

In his fiscal 2025 budget, Biden had proposed raising the tax rate on long-term capital gains – the profits made from selling or trading an asset held for more than a year – to 39.6 percent for those earning more than $1m annually, from the current rates, which range up to 20 percent, depending on income.

Harris said she also plans to offer low- and no-interest loans to small businesses, cut the red tape they face and expand access to venture capital.

She said she supported a minimum tax for billionaires proposed by Biden, adding, “It is not right that those who can afford it are often paying a lower tax rate than our teachers and our nurses and our firefighters,” she said.

Lead over Trump

Harris took aim at her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, saying his plans would cut off federal programmes that offer loans to small businesses, cut the corporate tax rate and push the US deficit higher.

Recent polls show Harris with a four to six percentage point lead in New Hampshire over Trump ahead of the November 5 election.

Harris spoke at the woman-owned Throwback Brewery, joined by the state’s two female US senators, other elected officials and a leader of a “Republicans for Harris” group in New Hampshire, where 330,000 registered independents outnumber the 258,000 registered Democrats and 301,000 registered Republicans.

New Hampshire has backed a Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1992, except for former President George W Bush’s 2000 win.

Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denied a news report that Republicans had given up on the state and said Trump’s campaign had an on-the-ground presence, office and staff there.