VP Also Supports Better Access to Capital and Easier Tax Filing
During a presidential campaign stop on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris pitched small-business support including a $50,000 tax deduction – a 10-fold increase – for start-ups. Harris’s New Hampshire stump speech aimed to gain votes from business owners without sacrificing the union support that she and other Democrats traditionally enjoy.
“We want to build an opportunity economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed… where workers are treated with dignity and can join a union,” Harris told the enthusiastic North Hampton, N.H., crowd. She played up the importance of small businesses by echoing a 2023 Small Business Administration report that they employ nearly half (46.4%) of all Americans working in the private sector, some 61.7 million people. While praising entrepreneurs “for building a stronger middle class and a stronger America,” she added that business owners are also valued as community leaders and civic leaders.
She promised “we’re going to help more small businesses and innovators get off the ground. I want to see 25 million small-business applications during my first term.” (The Biden administration so far has seen 19 million small-business applications, Fox News reported.) “We’re going to lower the cost of a starting a business,” which averages $40,000, an amount that presents an insurmountable obstacle for many entrepreneurs, she said.
Harris’ Small-Business Proposals
“As president, one of my highest priorities will be to strengthen America’s small businesses,” said Harris, standing outside a brewery that benefited from President Joe Biden’s Covid relief legislation and other policies, The Washington Post pointed out. “I am in New Hampshire to announce a few elements of my plan to do that.” Following are proposals from the speech:
- After noting that the current tax deduction for a start-up business is $5,000, she said: “We will expand the tax deduction for start-ups to $50,000.”
- She also would nurture the growth of existing small businesses. “We will help existing small businesses grow by offering low- and no-interest loans.”
- She supports a long-term capital gains tax of 28%, which would encourage investment. Taxpayers earning $1 million or more per year currently owe 23.8% on the profit they make when an investment sells, and Biden wanted a 39.6% tax rate, according to a CNN report. Sources told CNN that Harris thought that Biden’s rate was too high.
- Harris pledged that loan applications would be simplified. The application process is “more difficult than it needs to be… and we will cut the red tape.”
- The vice president also said she would overhaul tax filing procedures for small businesses, with a streamlined option for returns that would be similar to the standard-deduction return that individuals are allowed to file.
- She would expand resources for entrepreneurs, specifically calling for more venture capital, innovation hubs and incubators, especially in rural areas.
- Harris also would seek “a fairer tax code. Billionaires and corporations must pay their fair share,” which would reduce the tax burden on small-business owners.
Setting the Scene
Harris was introduced and endorsed by three female entrepreneurs who had started their North Hampton restaurant a few years earlier. The spokeswoman for the trio stated forcefully that “Kamala Harris shares our core values. She will build an economy based on the middle class and create jobs for all Americans.” She also remarked that the Harris administration will make it easier to hire more workers and achieve more dreams. “She’s a real champion for small-business entrepreneurs and working people.”
Behind her, the exuberant crowd – bathed in sunshine – waved signs that read “Opportunity Economy,” a theme for the Harris-Walz campaign. Supporters waved the signs as Harris spoke, and a few times during her speech she had to pause while they quieted after chanting her name.
Other Harris Positions and Speech Details
Harris has increasingly taken moderate positions on economic policy, CNN reported, while embracing populist policies such as a $25,000 credit for first-time home buyers, a $6,000 child tax credit for newborns, and investigations and penalties for price-gouging on grocery items. The vice president also has come out in favor of a permanent expansion of the child tax credit to as much as $3,600, an increase from the current $2,000, CNN said.
The vice president began her talk by expressing her sadness about the school shooting in Winder, Ga., where four people were murdered. “We’ve got to end the epidemic of gun violence in this country once and for all. It doesn’t have to be this way.” Although her speech had a strong business focus, Harris called for gun restrictions, including universal background checks and red-flag laws. She also referenced other campaign issues such as reproductive rights and her continued support for the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
