Harris says she supports eliminating federal tip taxes

Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to eliminate payroll taxes on service sector workers, matching a proposal from former President Donald Trump.

During a Las Vegas rally she held alongside her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris praised the work of the Culinary Workers Union, which supported her on Friday, and pledged to continue supporting policies that would benefit union workers.

“When I am president, we will continue our fight for America’s working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate tip taxes for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said.

Following her comments at the Las Vegas rally, a Harris campaign official clarified that her push to eliminate tip taxes would require legislation. If he is elected president, Harris will work with Congress to craft a proposal that imposes an income limit and enforces strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to take advantage of politics.

Harris would also promote the proposal with an increase in the minimum wage, the official said.

In response to Harris’ comments, Trump accused her of stealing his proposed policy in a way publish to its Truth Social platform.

“Kamala Harris, whose ‘honeymoon’ period is OVER and is starting to be criticized in the polls, just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS policy,” he wrote. He added that she only mentioned the “Political Purposes” proposal.

“This was a TRUMP idea,” said the former president. “She can only steal from me.”

Trump announced a policy proposal to eliminate tip taxes during a June rally in Las Vegas. Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt did not offer details about the proposal at the time, but told NBC News in an email in June that Trump would “ask Congress to eliminate tip taxes.”

Several Republican congressmen presented bills to exempt tip income after Trump’s policy announcement. Trump’s campaign speech, however, drew mixed reactions from Republicans, with some expressing skepticism toward the idea due to the rising national debt and uncertainty about whether it is fair to workers who do not receive tips.

Some restaurant workers and advocates also had a lukewarm reaction to Trump’s proposal, saying they prefer increases in base pay to eliminating tip taxes, NBC News reported.

ONE Yale University Analysis of a bill led by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, called “No Tip Tax Law,” found that it would only affect about 2.5% of the workforce and 5% of workers in the lowest-paid 25%.

Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked whether she supported Republican-led bills to exempt tip income.

Asked in June about Trump’s policy proposal, Lael Brainard, a top Biden White House adviser, pointed to the restrictions on political activity by West Wing employees outlined in the Hatch Act.

Brainard also told reporters on a conference call in June that President Joe Biden, whose re-election campaign was active at the time, “has fought for real solutions that actually meet workers’ legitimate need for fair wages” and has better proposals for wage earners. Nevada, such as a higher minimum wage and overtime protections.

“So our view is that the significant set of policy changes that would really raise the living standards of Nevada workers and workers across the country would be to raise the minimum wage and eliminate the tipped minimum wage, leading to $6,000 a more in income per year. ,” she said.