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.
Republican lawmakers have so far resisted any tax increases under Obama, and it's unlikely they'll change course now that they control both chambers of Congress.
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