Boehner Plan Would Bring Top Tax Rate to 39.6%

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's latest "fiscal cliff" proposal to President Barack Obama would see the top income tax rates rise to 39.6 percent from 36 percent for those with net incomes above $1 million a year, according to a source familiar with the talks.

The source, who asked not to be identified, emphasized that the income tax rate increase would be in exchange for "significant entitlement reforms/spending cuts." Entitlement programs include Medicare and Medicaid healthcare for the elderly and poor and Social Security retirement benefits.

The White House has not accepted Boehner's proposal, according to another source. Under current law, the top tax rate is scheduled to rise to 39.6 percent on Jan. 1, unless Congress extends the current 36 percent, as Republicans had been urging.