Is Kamala Harris Pushing a Golf Tax? What We Know

Vice President Kamala Harris has talked about raising taxes on America’s wealthiest and the nation’s large corporations, but could increases also come for golfers?
Harris, who formally accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Thursday, released the details about her economic agenda this week. The $5 trillion plan proposes a new tax on unrealized capital gains and the removal of tax on tips, but the rollout has sparked rumors that there could soon also be a golf tax.
Google searches for “golf tax” and “Kamala golf tax” spiked after a parody golf account posted an infographic on X, formerly Twitter, that claimed Harris was planning on putting a 20 percent sales tax on “all golf related purchases including, rounds, clubs, etc. in an effort to ‘Tax the wealthy.'”
“Kamala has officially lost every golfer’s vote,” @PGATUOR wrote on Thursday.
The tweet quickly picked up steam online, even though @PGATUOR, which has 297.6K followers, states in its bio that it posts “parody” and “satire” content and calls itself the “Golf version of @TheBabylonBee and @TheOnion.”
Talk show host Janet Parshall responded to a tweet about pro golfer Rickie Fowler’s lackluster response to the Democratic National Convention with “Now that Kamala/Walz want to put a 20% tax on all ‘golf-related’ purchases, there is this…”
Journalist Clifford D. May called the fake proposal “Stalinist” and “ignorant,” writing that, “I, for one, play on county courses with cops, firemen, short-order cooks, nurses, and other members of ‘working families.'”
After users began falling for @PGATUOR’s parody tweet, X added a “context” box on the post, noting that the infographic “comes from an account, @PGATUOR, which is clearly marked as parody.”
“While Harris does propose several changes in the current tax regime, there is no proposed Federal sales tax increase on golf-related purchases,” the advisory reads.
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign via email for comment.
Harris’ campaign has not released a new tax plan but said that it agrees with a series of items in President Joe Biden’s last budget proposal, which failed to become law.
It includes a new tax on unrealized capital gains, which is not typically seen in the U.S. unless in rare cases like future contracts. The proposal would apply only to individuals with at least $100 million in wealth who do not pay at least a 25 percent tax rate on their income.
It would also increase the rate that high-income Americans pay on existing income taxes from 37 percent to 39.6 percent. Those making more than $1 million a year would additionally have their investment earnings taxed at the same rate as regular income instead of the current lower rate.