Vice President Kamala Harris is set to propose expanding a tax break for start-ups on Wednesday, one of a series of policy ideas her campaign launched this week aimed at helping entrepreneurs and small businesses.
A campaign official said the plan, which Ms. Harris will announce during a speech in New Hampshire, would allow new companies to deduct up to $50,000 in start-up costs. The measure would increase tenfold the $5,000 deduction that companies can now claim for expenses, such as advertising and salaries, that they incurred before starting operations.
If Ms. Harris is elected, the proposed expansion aims to help start 25 million small businesses. In New Hampshire, he will also discuss creating a new fund to help small businesses expand, simplifying regulations and making taxes easier for small businesses to pay by making the deduction universally available, the campaign official said, without providing additional details. The official disclosed the plan on condition of anonymity as details of the policy proposal have not yet been made public.
Owners of so-called pass-through businesses, the framework for most corporations in the United States, already enjoy access to generous deductions that many progressives see as overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthy.
Since taking over at the top of the Democratic ticket, Ms. Harris and her advisers have tried to adopt a friendlier approach to the business community than President Biden. Ms. Harris has closer ties to Silicon Valley, which she once represented as a California senator, and to Wall Street than Mr. Biden. Her donors are encouraging her to emphasize the virtues of entrepreneurship and abandon some of Mr. Biden’s most liberal ideas.
At the same time, Ms. Harris’s campaign has released four new ads from the party’s national convention touting her as an ally of the middle class and former President Donald J. Trump has been portrayed as a friend of billionaires and big corporations. Voters express more confidence in Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy than Ms. Harris, with many citing inflation as one of their top concerns heading into November.
The ads represent an attempt to turn a weakness into a strength for Democrats. The latest announcement argues that big business is to blame for rising prices and will fight Ms Harris’s plans Inflation corporate greedHowever, economists say that various global economic factors are responsible for the high prices.
If Ms. Harris wins in November, taxes will be a central issue in her first year in office. Washington is bracing for a major legislative battle next year over the termination of many The tax cuts Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017.
Ms. Harris has effectively pledged to preserve those tax cuts for families making less than $400,000 a year, while also proposing a series of additional tax cuts of her own. Her campaign has also said she supports roughly $5 trillion in tax increases Mr. Biden released the budget This spring.
Ms. Harris’ visit to New Hampshire will take her into a political arena that should feel much friendlier than the one where Mr. Biden was at the top of the ticket. After the president’s disastrous debate performance, Democrats in New Hampshire and other reliably blue states — including Minnesota, New Mexico and Virginia — began to take off. Alarm bells ring That Mr. Trump could become a new competitor. In 2020, New Hampshire was won by Mr. Biden Seven percentage points.
But those fears have largely been allayed as Ms Harris has voted in his place. recent voting She gained about five points in New Hampshire.
The Harris campaign has also built a commanding advantage in its New Hampshire ground game. It has 17 offices across the state and more than 100 staff members, more than Mr. Trump.
And her appearance should provide leverage to draw news coverage in neighboring Maine, where the former president is seeking to win the Electoral College vote. Maine is one of two states that can split its Electoral College votes between candidates, and Mr. Trump won one in 2016 and another in 2020 based on strong support in a large voting district.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump claimed on social media that Ms Harris’ trip to New Hampshire showed weakness, saying The vice president knows “there are problems for her campaign” because of the high cost of living.
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