In June, Donald Trump announced that if elected, he would introduce a tax plan to stop taxing tips in the service industry. Democrats and the media widely criticized the plan.
That plan helped Trump flip Nevada, which led to Kamala Harris offering the same policy. However, the media's narrative was quite different from how it presented the plan when Trump introduced it.
Talking Points…
- Harris steals Trump plan on taxing service workers
- Media reaction
- Analysis
During a Nevada rally in June, Trump suggested that he would end taxing tips for service workers. This was Trump's response to legislation included in the Inflation Reductions Act, which allocated money to the IRS to better track tips among service workers so that income could be fully taxed. Oddly enough, the legislation was only passed after Vice President Kamala Harris used her tiebreaking vote to push the legislation through via reconciliation.
Trump has claimed the plan originated with him, but it actually goes back to 1982, when it was first suggested by Rep. Phil Crane (R-IL). It was then re-introduced in 2007 by former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the father of Rep. Rand Paul (R-KY). He actually wrote an op-ed in 2012 in the Las Vegas Sun, in part, stating:
"That's because I understand ending taxes on tips will give these workers a pay raise, letting them keep more money to put toward things like a house or car payment, their retirement, or their own and/or their children's education."
After Paul left office, that plan pretty much sat dormant until Trump brought it back up in June 2024. So, while Trump did not come up with the idea, he is the first person to revive it in more than a decade. Then, two months later, Harris stated that she would support no taxes for service workers, obviously to try to flip Nevada back to Democrats. But again, keep in mind that it was Harris who had the tiebreaking vote to help the IRS better track this income to tax it.
When that plan was introduced, it was torched by the media and Democrats for how much money it would cost the federal government in tax revenue. CBS News even posted on X with a caption that estimated it would result in a $250 billion tax loss over 10 years for the government. Just two months later, Harris stated that she was rolling out a "new" policy to end taxes on tips for service professionals. Please note how CBS presented the same exact tax plan by both candidates:
The dishonesty did not stop there. Newsweek also highlighted Harris's sudden change of heart regarding service workers' tax reporting. It posted its report with the headline, "Kamala Harris' tax proposal backed by majority of Republicans." The report stated:
"Considering that 68 percent of Republicans support the policy proposal, according to our recent poll, the plan could help Harris sway GOP voters unconvinced by Trump's candidacy toward supporting her in the November election."
The referenced poll was taken on July 29, well before Harris announced her new policy. The report did note that the "policy plan first announced by her opponent Donald Trump," but it was buried in the report, explaining why they thought Harris had embraced the new policy. To make this even more amusing, the White House then came out and said that Biden supported the policy and would sign legislation immediately if it came across his desk.
The deception by the media is one thing, and that is bad enough, but the fact the media is not pushing back on Harris or the White House goes to show how the mainstream media has turned to state-run media for Democrats. The question to ask them would be, if they supported this policy, why did they send millions to the IRS in order to better track tips for the service industry so they could be taxed? The media has the responsibility to call Harris and Biden out on this, and they are just ignoring existing policy put in place and forced through by this administration.
