Donald Trump has told a rally in Las Vegas that he would not tax income from tips in a move widely regarded as a bid for support from service workers in the swing state of Nevada.
“So 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 (are) making,” Trump told the crowd.
The Republican presidential candidate added that he would “do that right away, first thing in office,” and that he would seek legislation in Congress to make the change. “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.”
Nevada is one of six or seven swing states likely to determine the election, with a Fox News survey conducted after the guilty verdict showing Trump ahead of Biden in Nevada by five percentage points, an advantage roughly in line with an average of polls compiled by poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight.
Trump is seeking to win the swing state over by pushing his tax plan, which includes vague pledges of tax relief to middle-income workers and small businesses, in a direct appeal to service industry workers. As a tourism-centred economy, Nevada has more than double the national average of personal care and service workers, who make up four per cent of the total workforce in the state.
Trump has previously pledged to make permanent the Republican-passed individual tax cuts that he signed into law in 2017, which expire at the end of 2025. Tax experts estimate that doing so would raise US deficits by some $4 trillion over a decade compared to current forecasts.
As current law requires, tipped employees must report their tips as income. Eliminating this would add further to deficits without new revenues elsewhere.
President Joe Biden, has pledged to maintain Trump’s tax cuts for households earning under $400,000 a year, but wants to substantially raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on large corporations.
Meanwhile, Trump has steered clear of any plans to raise taxes – in a move that he hopes will attract middle-income service workers towards him.
But despite Trump’s strong showing in the polls in Nevada amid his criminal conviction on of 34 counts of falsifying business records, experts have predicted he may still face challenges in the state.
Rebecca Gill, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said she was sceptical that polls were fully capturing where voters will be in a few months, given that many are not yet paying attention to the race.
Gill told Reuters she did not think Trump’s criminal conviction has fully sunk in with voters and could deter some moderate Republicans from backing him. In addition, a proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution would, if it makes it onto the ballot, likely boost Democratic turnout.
However, she conceded that Nevada is “100% still in play” for the former president.
Sunday’s rally comes on the heels of a three-day fundraising push by Trump that included stops in San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, during which he raised $33.5 million from donors, according to senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita.