Obama to propose tax hikes for wealthy in State of the Union

(Image credit: Pool / Getty Images)

published 18 January 2015

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama will call for reshaping the tax code by raising rates and fees for high income-earners and big financial firms while cutting taxes for the middle class.

A central component of the plan would close the so-called "trust-fund loophole" that allows hundreds of billions of dollars in inheritances to go untaxed. The plan is projected to raise $320 billion over the coming decade, according to the administration, money that would then finance middle class tax cuts and Obama's recently announced free community college initiative.

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.