GOP Tax Plan Lowers Rates, Imposes Surtax On Rich

WASHINGTON (AP) — An election-year plan by House Republicans to simplify the tax code would cut income tax rates but impose a new surtax on some high-income families.

A GOP aide says the plan to be unveiled Wednesday would lower the top income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. However, it would impose a new 10 percent surtax on some earned income above about $450,000.

The plan has no chance of becoming law without Democratic support. But it could become a political document for House Republicans to show what they stand for, and for Democrats to attack, as the midterm elections approach in November.