Here’s what a Kamala Harris administration could mean for your wallet

Without action from Congress, dozens of provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, will sunset, including lower federal income brackets, a bigger standard deduction and a more generous child tax credit, among other changes. That could mean higher taxes for more than 60% of filers, according to the Tax Foundation.

Broadly speaking, it seems like Harris would be “largely on board” with most, if not all, of what Biden and his administration have been promoting, “especially in the big picture,” said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst and modeling manager at the Tax Foundation. 

Biden has called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.

One big question is whether Harris will stick with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000, Watson said.

Under that proposal, all Americans would transition to a Medicare health plan — either public or offered by a private insurer — over a 10-year period.

If chosen as the nominee, Harris is unlikely to push that plan in the current presidential contest, said Drew Altman, president and chief executive of KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization. That’s because Democrats seem to have coalesced around Biden’s “kitchen table” proposals to reduce health costs, he said.

For example, in 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, making ACA health plans more affordable for millions of households; those subsidies last through 2025. It also capped insulin co-pays at $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries.

Harris would likely seek expansions of health coverage under the ACA and Medicaid, Altman said. She’d likely try to expand negotiations over prescription-drug prices, which currently apply only to Medicare beneficiaries and some medications, he said.

However, as a candidate in the 2020 race, Harris put forward a debt relief program that was criticized for being overly complicated and narrow. To be eligible, borrowers needed to receive a Pell Grant and open a business in a disadvantaged community, among other requirements.

In contrast, Biden has favored more broad debt cancellation, advancing plans that would reduce or eliminate the balances of tens of millions of Americans.

A White House spokesperson recently told CNBC that Harris is proud of her and Biden’s work to forgive $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans so far. The vice president plans to bring more relief to borrowers, he said.

Since then, the cost of living has only skyrocketed, hitting working-class Americans especially hard, said Laura Veldkamp, a professor of finance and economics at Columbia University Business School.

In that context, “there’s a good rationale” for refloating a tax credit for those making under a certain income threshold, Veldkamp said.

— Jessica Dickler

“Every American deserves affordable housing,” Harris posted on X on July 16, referring to the Biden administration’s call to cap rent increases by 5% on landlords with 50 or more rental units or risk losing federal tax breaks.

Under a plan she unveiled in 2019, companies with 100 or more employees would be required to report pay and total compensation for men and women, as well as the percentage of women in leadership positions to obtain an “Equal Pay Certification.” Businesses without that certification would be fined at 1% of their average daily profits during the last fiscal year.