Harris says she supports ending federal taxes on tips

Harris says she supports ending federal taxes on tips
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Vice President Kamala Harris, echoing former President Donald Trump, promised on Saturday to remove taxes on service workers’ gratuities.

At a Las Vegas event with her running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, Harris commended the efforts of the Culinary Workers Union, which on Friday endorsed her, and pledged to keep pushing for laws that would help union members.

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“When I become president, we will keep fighting for American working families, which will include raising the minimum wage and eliminating tip taxes for service and hospitality workers,” Harris declared.

In response to remarks she made at the event in Las Vegas, a representative for the Harris campaign explained that legislation would be needed to implement her proposal to do away with tip taxes. In order to prevent hedge fund managers and attorneys from structuring their salary to take advantage of the policy, Harris would collaborate with Congress to draft a plan that would impose stringent standards and impose an income ceiling if elected president.

According to the person, Harris would also support raising the minimum wage in conjunction with the idea.

Trump responded to Harris’ comments by accusing her in a post on his Truth Social platform of stealing his proposed program.

He said, “I recently had Kamala Harris replicate my NO TAXES ON TIPS policy. Her ‘Honeymoon’ is coming to an end, and the polls are beginning to turn against her.” She just brought up the proposal for “Political Purposes,” he continued.

He declared, “This was a TRUMP idea.” “She can only take advantage of me.”

During a June rally in Las Vegas, Trump revealed a proposal to repeal tip taxes. At the time, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not provide any details regarding the plan; but, in an email sent to NBC News in June, she stated that Trump will “ask Congress to eliminate taxes on tips.”

Bills to exempt tip money have been introduced by a number of congressional Republicans in response to Trump’s policy pronouncement. Republicans, however, had differing opinions on Trump’s campaign proposal. Some expressed doubts about the idea due to the growing national debt and questioned if it would be equitable for workers who do not receive tips.

A few restaurant employees and supporters also reacted ambivalently to Trump’s idea, stating that they would rather see basic pay hikes than tip taxes eliminated, according to NBC News.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is leading the “No Tax on Tips Act” bill. A Yale University examination of the measure revealed that it would barely impact an estimated 2.5% of the workforce and 5% of workers in the lowest 25% of earners.

When asked if Harris would back Republican-led proposals that exempted tip money, a representative for Harris’ campaign emphasized that legislation would be needed to do away with tip taxes and that, should he win, he would collaborate with Congress to draft a plan regarding the matter.

When asked about Trump’s plan in June, White House National Economic Council director Lael Brainard cited the Hatch Act’s limitations on political participation by West Wing employees.

Additionally, during a June call with reporters, Brainard informed them that President Joe Biden—who was then actively seeking reelection—had “pushed for practical answers that genuinely attend to employees’ rightful demand for fair compensation” and that he had better ideas for Nevadans seeking employment, like raising the minimum wage and providing overtime protections.

“In our opinion, raising the minimum wage and doing away with the tipped minimum wage would be a significant set of policy changes that would really raise the living standards of Nevadans and workers across the nation, resulting in an additional $6,000 in annual income,” she stated.

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