Vice President Kamala Harris delivers welcoming remarks at a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

Vice President Kamala Harris is on record in support of payroll tax hikes on middle income households, providing further proof she has no qualms about raising taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.

During her 2020 Presidential campaign, Harris personally authored a proposal endorsing the creation of two additional payroll taxes as part of her “Medicare for All” plan:

  1. A 4 percent payroll tax on households with a combined income over $100,000 to be directly withheld from an employee’s paycheck.
  2. A 7.5 percent payroll tax on employers exempting the first $2 million of an employers’ payroll.

Harris in her own words

In a 2019 post on Medium, Harris endorsed several tax increases put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-V.t.) in his Medicare for All plan.

“Senator Sanders, for example, has put forward a number of ways to help pay for his Medicare for All plan, including an income-based premium paid by employers, higher taxes on the top 1%, taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, among others. I think these are good options, especially making the top 1% and corporations pay their fair share through a more progressive income, payroll, and estate tax.

However, one of Senator Sanders’ options is to tax households making above $29,000 an additional 4% income-based premium. I believe this hits the middle class too hard.

That’s why I propose that we exempt households making below $100,000, along with a higher income threshold for middle-class families living in high-cost areas.”

Biden campaign slammed Harris’s payroll tax hikes on the middle class

Upon the release Harris’s proposed payroll tax hikes, then-Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield, called the plan ” a refusal to be straight with the American middle class, who would have a large tax increase forced on them with this plan.” Bedingfield would go on to serve as Biden’s White House communications director.

Who is hit by Kamala Harris’ payroll tax?

The Biden campaign was right to slam Harris’ payroll tax hike for hitting the middle class.

Accounting for existing payroll taxes, Harris’ plan would mean that a household earning $100,000 or more would now pay a total combined rate of 26.8% in federal payroll taxes, a major increase from the current combined payroll tax rate of 15.3%.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 37.5% of all U.S. households earn over $100,000 in income, meaning more than 49 million American households would be hit by Harris’ tax increase.

Workers pay all payroll taxes

As the Tax Foundation states, “while payroll taxes are legally imposed partially or wholly on employers, employees effectively pay almost the entire tax, instead of splitting the burden with their employers.”

Stay tuned to ATR’s Kamalanomics.org for updates.