CHICAGO — As the Democratic National Convention began Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris called for a corporate tax increase as the party’s presidential nominee unveiled her first major revenue-raising proposal.
Harris’ campaign confirmed to Fox News that the vice president is proposing to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, describing it as “a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.”
“As president, Kamala Harris will focus on creating an economy of opportunity for the middle class that promotes economic security, stability and dignity,” her campaign spokesman James Singer added in a statement.
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Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at the Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence on the Scott Northern Wake campus of Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina, on August 16, 2024. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)
The measure, if enacted, could likely raise hundreds of billions of dollars, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The announcement comes as Harris begins to provide details on how she would govern if elected president, and how she would try to pay for the big-ticket ideas she proposed last week, including expanding the child tax credit, easing the cost of homeownership and reducing medical debt.
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The announcement would also be a major rollback from the 2017 tax cuts — the flagship national legislation passed under former President Trump’s administration — which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
Trump has pledged to cut taxes if he returns to the White House.
“Our plan will cut taxes dramatically,” Trump said at a campaign rally Monday at a factory in York, Pennsylvania. “I gave you the biggest tax cut in history.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Precision Components Group, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in York, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
He also signaled that he would seek to use tariffs against competitors and allies by pushing for a law called the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act.
But Harris’ campaign says Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign goods “would punish middle- and working-class Americans, so he can cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans.”
Parts of the Trump tax cuts expire at the end of 2025, prompting a major debate next year over which parts should be extended.
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Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, highlighted Harris’ proposal in a social media post, writing: “Goodbye economic growth, new hiring, investment, expansion, relocation and so much more!”
Harris’ new position also aligns her with President Biden’s latest federal budget proposal, which also proposes raising the corporate tax rate to 28%.
Exterior view of the United Center in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention kicked off on Monday, August 19, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Harris replaced Biden four weeks ago as the 2024 Democratic leader, after Biden announced he was ending his re-election bid and supporting his vice president as his successor.
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But veteran Republican consultant and strategist Alex Castellanos told Fox News that such proposals would do Harris a disservice in the election.
“She doesn’t need to be spotlighted or her policies. She’s been on both sides of the aisle on too many issues. And if she supports raising corporate taxes, that’s going to destroy jobs. You don’t have to hurt workers directly. You just have to hurt the companies that workers work for,” Castellanos said.
Fox News’ Emily Reynolds contributed to this report
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