Harris to announce new economic plans focused on boosting small businesses

Vice President Harris is set to propose expanding tax relief for Americans starting a small business as part of her economic plan, a Harris campaign official told The Hill.

The proposal would tenfold expand the small business tax deduction for startup expenses from $5,000 to $50,000, with the goal of 25 million new small business applications in Harris’s first term as president if elected.

Harris is expected to announce the plans Wednesday during a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

The plans would allow new businesses to wait to claim the deduction until they first turn a profit to reduce their taxes. For example, a small business with $15,000 in earnings in its first year can deduct that and then save the rest for future years, the official said.

The official said that the average cost of starting a business is $40,000 and noted that the 25-million-businesses goal would be boosted by the 19 million new small business applications during the Biden administration.

The vice president is also expected to propose measures that aim to cut red tape to start a small business. Those measures would include developing a standard deduction for small businesses to decrease the amount of time and money it takes to file taxes and reduce barriers to getting occupational licenses for businesses to expand to other states.

The proposals also include a small business expansion fund to enable community banks to cover interest costs for small businesses looking to expand and ensuring that one-third of federal contract dollars go to small businesses.

Harris last month outlined her economic plan to create an “opportunity economy” with proposals like a federal ban on price gouging, a plan to end the housing shortage through the construction of new units and down-payment support to first-time homebuyers, and a plan to expand the child tax credit.

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