Obama Pushes Sweeping Corporate Tax Reform

President Obama is planning the biggest overhaul of the corporate tax code since Ronald Reagan's in 1986. The administration will soon unveil a blueprint for making the code more fair and lowering the top rate of 35%, which is among the highest in the world, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a Senate committee yesterday. But Geithner says "dozens and dozens" of corporate tax breaks will also be scrapped in the overhaul, Reuters reports.

"In short, it will help level the playing field for businesses and allow the government to collect needed revenue while promoting economic growth," Geithner said, describing the Obama plan as a first step toward both parties—and businesses—reaching consensus on tax reform. He said that reforms would aim to limit companies' ability to shift profits overseas, while a "very limited" number of corporate tax breaks would remain to encourage companies in "creating and building stuff in the United States." (More President Obama stories.)