Five female entrepreneurs told BI they doubted most people, especially those in rural areas, know about Harris‘ plan to expand a key tax deduction.
Ashley Storck, the 26-year-oldfounder of a digital marketing firm in Madison, Wisconsin, is part of nearly a dozen professional organizations. Only one of them, she said, reached out to inform her about Vice President Kamala Harris‘ proposal to increase the small business tax deduction tenfold.
Storck considers herself very engaged in Democratic politics — she’s been to the White House and introduced President Joe Biden at an event about student loan forgiveness — but she doubts that many entrepreneurs in her critical battleground state know about Harris‘ small business policies.
With the economy as the driving issue this election, Harris has introduced a slate of policies targeted toward entrepreneurs, including her plan to expand the small business tax deduction from its current $5,000 to $50,000. Under the proposed legislation, new entrepreneurs could take advantage of the $50,000 deduction right away or a few years after launching, to help lower taxes once they start turning a profit.
Rhett Buttle, the co-executive director of Small Business Roundtable and a former business advisor for Biden, previously told Business Insider that the expanded deduction would be particularly helpful for women and people of color who have a harder time accessing capital. But BI spoke to five female entrepreneurs, all of whom said many people aren’t aware that the proposal even exists.
Neither Hama Hinnawi, 46, nor Patricia Oswald, 55, had heard of Harris‘ pitch before speaking to BI. Owners of a fashion brand and company that sells powered drying racks respectively, they are both members of the Women’s Business Development Center and doubted many of their peers are aware, either.
