Obama may increase taxes on inherited, investment properties

Obama said he plans to use the revenue from the tax hikes, which would mainly fall on U.S. households, to expand a range of tax breaks for low- and middle-income families.

U.S. President Barack Obama will call on the new Republican-led Congress to raise taxes on investments and inherited property in his State of the Union address tonight. 

Obama said he plans to use the revenue from the tax hikes, which would mainly fall on U.S. households, to expand a range of tax breaks for low- and middle-income families, according to MarketWatch

The proposal would increase the tax paid on profits from the sale of property or investments to 28% from the current 23.8% rate. It would also require estates to pay capital gains tax on inherited securities, closing what the White House called "one of the biggest tax loopholes" in the current code.

However, Republican leaders are dismissing the tax proposal.  A spokesman for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told NPR that the plan is not "a serious one."

"We lift families up and grow the economy with a simpler, flatter tax code, not big tax increases to pay for more Washington spending," Ryan said.

"More Washington tax hikes and spending is the same, old top-down approach we've come to expect from President Obama that hasn't worked," a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said.