2024 Election Insights | Whose Plan Wins? Trump vs. Harris on Taxes
What do the contrasting tax proposals of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump mean for Americans as the 2024 election approaches?
Expert
Erica York
Vice President of Federal Tax Policy
Erica York is Vice President of Federal Tax Policy with Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy. She previously worked as an auditor at a large community bank in Kansas and interned at Tax Foundation’s Center for State Tax Policy.
Her analysis has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, and other national and international media outlets. She holds a master’s degree in Economics from Wichita State University and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Economics from Sterling (KS) College, where she is currently an adjunct professor. Erica lives in Kansas with her husband and their two children.
Latest Work
Harris’s Proposed Capital Gains Tax Rate Would Be Highest for Many Since 1978
As part of the 2024 presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing to tax long-term capital gains at a top rate of 33 percent for high earners, taking the top federal rate to highs not seen since the 1970s.
3 min read
Trump’s “No Tax on Overtime Pay” Proposal Would Distort Work Decisions
Exempting overtime would unnecessarily complicate the tax code, increase compliance and administrative costs, and reduce neutrality by favoring certain work arrangements over others.
5 min read
2024 Election Insights | Trump on Taxes, Tariffs, & Harris’s Economic Plans
While tax policy was almost nonexistent in the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, this episode will explore each candidate’s latest proposals in greater depth.
Why Neutral Cost Recovery Matters
Allowing full deductibility of residential structures would mean more housing construction, particularly multifamily housing—a practical solution to address housing affordability challenges.
6 min read
Analysis of Harris’s Billionaire Minimum Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains
In her campaign for president, VP Kamala Harris has embraced all the tax increases President Biden proposed in the White House FY 2025 budget—including a new idea that would require taxpayers with net wealth above $100 million to pay a minimum tax on their unrealized capital gains from assets such as stocks, bonds, or privately held companies.
5 min read
How Do Import Tariffs Affect Exports?
When the government imposes a tariff, it may be trading jobs and production in one part of the economy for jobs in another part of the economy by increasing production costs for downstream industries.
6 min read
2024 Election Insights | Taxes, Kamala Harris, and the DNC’s Vision
Dive into the highlights from the DNC as we break down Vice President Kamala Harris’s tax proposals and their potential impact on everyday families. What do higher taxes on businesses and the wealthy mean for working Americans?
The Corporate Tax Rate Tug-of-War
Depending on the 2024 US election, the current corporate tax rate of 21 percent could be in for a change. See the modeling here.
4 min read
Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Taxes?
While both President Biden and Vice President Harris aim their proposed tax hikes on businesses and high earners, key differences between their tax ideas in the past reveal where Harris may take her tax policy platform in the 2024 campaign.
6 min read
A Lower Corporate Tax Rate Can Be Part of Broader Tax Reform
A 15 percent corporate rate would be pro-growth, but it would not address the structural issues with today’s corporate tax base.
4 min read
Placing Biden and Trump Tax Proposals in Historical Context
From President Biden calling the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act the “largest tax cut in American history,” to former President Trump claiming that Biden “wants to raise your taxes by four times,” the campaign rhetoric on taxes may be sparking some confusion.
5 min read
How Does the IRA’s Book Minimum Tax Affect 5G Competition?
A higher tax burden for private infrastructure investments like wireless spectrum, 5G technology, and machinery and equipment makes an existing problem worse—especially against the backdrop of outright state subsidies in countries like China.
6 min read
Tax Cuts vs. Tax Reform
Tax cuts vs. tax reform: what’s the real difference, and why does it matter?
Latest CBO Projections Highlight Fiscal Challenge of Full TCJA Extension
While neither full expiration nor a deficit-financed full extension of the TCJA would be appropriate, lawmakers should consider the incentive effects of whichever tax reform they pursue. Because taxes affect the economy, they also affect the sustainability of debt reduction.
3 min read
Sources of Personal Income, Tax Year 2021
Reviewing reported income helps to understand the composition of the federal government’s revenue base and how Americans earn their taxable income. The individual income tax, the federal government’s largest source of revenue, is largely a tax on labor.
9 min read
Tax Policy Questions 2024 Presidential Candidates Should Address
Both candidates should provide clear and honest answers about their plans (or lack thereof) to address the nation’s urgent tax policy issues.
8 min read
Details and Analysis of President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal
President Biden is proposing extraordinarily large tax hikes on businesses and the top 1 percent of earners that would put the US in a distinctly uncompetitive international position and threaten the health of the US economy.
19 min read
TCJA Family Provisions Offer Template for Tax Reform in 2025
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s changes to family tax policy serve as a reminder to avoid looking at tax reform provisions in a vacuum.
5 min read
Trump and Biden’s Tariff Tango
Tariffs are a hot topic this election cycle for both President Biden and former President Trump. But why are tariffs so popular despite their economic downsides?