Harris’ campaign announced plans to restore and expand the child tax credit on Friday as part of an economic package that she will detail in a policy speech in North Carolina.
Vice President Harris will stick with President Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year, and on the campaign trail she also outlined how she would push for tax cuts for middle-class families.
The main way would be through restoring an expanded child tax credit. Included in the American Rescue Planpassed with only Democratic votes in 2021, but the tax credit expired that same year. A Harris campaign official said she would push to reinstate the policy, which would provide many families with a tax credit of up to $3,600 per child.
The vice president also plans to call for providing low- and moderate-income families with a tax cut of up to $6,000 for the first year of a child’s life, according to his campaign.
In addition to expanding the child tax credit, Harris’ campaign said the vice president would also seek to expand the earned income tax credit by up to $1,500 for low-income Americans without children.
Harris’ tax proposals will be central to her economic platform as she runs for president after President Biden gave up on reelection. Her campaign detailed other elements of her plan this week, including a federal ban on price gouging and efforts to increase the housing supply.
Harris’ campaign is expected to contrast her proposals with those of former President Donald Trump, who has said he would extend tax cuts first passed during his first administration in 2017. Trump has blamed Harris for lingering inflation and argued that she campaigned on the biggest tax increases in history.
The campaign is likely to use the policy to attack Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who has attracted new attention in recent weeks for saying that a “childless catwoman” is running the country in 2021. Vance has defended the comments by saying he was arguing that Democrats are anti-family.
