Obama to call for tax hike on the wealthy

President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday will call for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and tax credits for the middle class, The Associated Press reports, citing anonymous senior administration officials.

The proposed tax changes will include raising the capital gains rate on couples making over half a million dollars a year from 23.8 to 28 percent, the wire service continues, and requiring estates to pay capital gains tax on inherited securities.

The tax increases would target the nation's wealthy. NPR's Scott Horsley tells our Newscast division that the proposed changes would raise more than $200 billion dollars over the next decade, which the president wants to use to boost tax benefits for working families.

The changes intended to help the middle class will include providing tax credits for families where spouses both work, expanding the child care tax credit and cutting taxes for millions of families by overhauling the education tax system, the AP says.

The AP notes that "the tax increases are all but certain to be non-starters with the new Republican majority on Capitol Hill":

"While GOP leaders have said they share Obama's desire to reform the nation's complicated tax code, the party has long been opposed to many of the proposals the president will outline Tuesday. For example, most Republicans want to lower or eliminate the capital gains tax and similarly want to end taxes on estates, not expand them."

But Horsley says while they're unlikely to win favor in Congress, the proposals provide a "rhetorical weapon" for Democrats leading up to the 2016 election.

In previews earlier this week, the White House indicated that the speech will also include calls for free community college, sick leave for workers and cybersecurity reform. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.