Both Parties Look to Cut Corporate Tax

The Obama administration is planning to propose a new set of cuts in the corporate tax rate, hoping to strike a vein of bipartisan cooperation. “This would send a reassuring signal to the economy, and is something both parties should support in theory,” a senior administration official tells Politico, though he expects “a numbers game” in which companies wrangle over the finer points—or, as one top aide puts it, “This will be a feast for K Street.”

Tim Geithner will kick off the debate with a white paper urging cutting the corporate tax rate from its current 35% to as low as 26%, and paying for it by closing loophopes and removing exemptions, like the tax deduction for domestic manufacturing. Similar moves are already included in Paul Ryan’s GOP budget blueprint. “This won’t be like health care, where you put out specific ideas people have to take or leave,” says an administration official. “We’ll be more than willing to make trade-offs.” (More corporate tax stories.)