Harris targets small business tax break in contrast with Trump’s corporate tax cuts

Kamala Harris rolled out a new plan for small business tax breaks, as the vice president looks to contrast her economic agenda with former President Donald Trump ahead of next week’s debate.

Harris’ proposal, released on Tuesday, calls for significantly expanding the tax deduction for start-up expenses from $5,000 to $50,000, while also setting the goal of 25 million new small-business applications during her first term, according to a Harris campaign official granted anonymity to describe details of the plan. The plan also proposes reducing barriers to getting occupational licenses and developing a standard tax deduction for small businesses.

Many of her proposals would require congressional approval.

The proposal’s focus on tax breaks for small businesses attempts to craft a contrast with Trump, who has called for lowering the corporate tax rate, as well as extending and expanding his 2017 tax law.

Trump and Harris are largely betting on broader economic themes to sway voters, instead of pushing detailed policy proposals. So far, public polls show Trump holds an edge over Harris in voters’ view of which candidate is better suited to handle the country’s economy — though Harris narrowed that polling lead after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.

Harris is expected to further detail her new policy in a speech on Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Harris’ proposal brings the vice president’s economic platform into slightly sharper focus, as much of her campaign's ideas and messaging is still being fleshed out. In her first economic policy rollout last month, Harris called for new housing subsidies, a $6,000 child tax benefit for newborns and a federal ban on price gouging, aimed at the food and grocery industry.

Since her presidential campaign launched in late July, Harris has sought to distance herself from Biden’s economic baggage , particularly around inflation, while still embracing much of the president’s broader policy agenda.

The vice president’s campaign has also gone on offense with her economic messaging on the TV airwaves, vowing to lower costs the campaign acknowledges are still too high for many consumers. In one ad , she pledges to “make it a top priority to bring down costs” and “doing everything we can to make it more affordable to buy a home.”

“We all know costs are too high, but while corporations are gouging families, Trump is focused on giving them tax cuts,” said another economic-focused TV ad, released this week . “But Kamala Harris is focused on you.”