Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire from critics and conservatives for ‘copying’ former President Trump’s campaign vow to not tax service industry employees’ tips after the Biden-Harris administration rolled out a plan to crack down on waiters’ tips.
‘Now is a good time to remind everyone that #CopyCatKamala’s administration rolled out a new enforcement program JUST LAST YEAR to collect more taxes on tips! She could stop it now… but she won’t, because she’s a dishonest fraud!’ Trump campaign political director James Blair posted to X.
Blair was responding to Harris revealing at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday that she supports the elimination of taxes on service industry workers’ tips.
’It is my promise to everyone here when I am president we will continue to fight for working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,’ Harris said at the rally.
Trump had already vowed earlier this summer that he would eliminate taxes on service industry tips if re-elected to the Oval Office, and included the promise on the 2024 GOP platform.
‘This is the first time I’ve said this and for those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy, because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips… It’s been a point of contention for years and years and years, and you do a great job of service, you take care of people, and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved,’ Trump said back in June during a rally in Las Vegas.
Harris joining Trump in calling for the elimination of the tax on tips comes after the Biden administration rolled out a voluntary tip reporting system last year for industry workers that works to streamline tax compliance on tips.
‘The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service today issued Notice 2023-13, which contains a proposed revenue procedure that would establish the Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (SITCA) program, a voluntary tip reporting program between the IRS and employers in various service industries,’ the IRS said in a press release last year of the plan.
The plan was criticized by tax experts at the time as a crackdown on ‘waitresses’ tips’ after the IRS hired 87,000 new agents under the Biden administration, Fox News Digital reported last year.
‘Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,’ Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., the chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax, told Fox News Digital at the time. ‘Now, the IRS is going after middle-income families and working moms and dads who are just trying to make ends meet and put food on the table.’
‘My colleagues and I have warned for months that the IRS would start targeting hardworking Americans in the Biden administration’s quest for more taxpayer dollars. Now, we’re starting to see some of these concerns come to fruition,’ he added.
Following Harris saying Saturday that she also wants to eliminate taxes on tips, Trump accused Harris of stealing the plan and slammed her as a ‘copycat.’
’Kamala Harris, whose ‘Honeymoon’ period is ENDING, and is starting to get hammered in the Polls, just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy,’ Trump wrote.
‘The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes! This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me,’ he added.
Other critics on social media slammed Harris for ‘copying’ Trump as the veep squares up against the 45th president after President Biden dropped out of the race last month amid mounting concerns surrounding his mental acuity and 81 years of age. Critics frequently used the hashtag ‘#CopyCatKamala’ when calling out the vice president for ‘copying’ Trump, sparking the hashtag to trend on X over the weekend.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the criticisms and SITCA program.